Maybe if you don't address it in another way. C'mon people. This is so one dimensional. Taking notes distracts me completely from the points being made. It takes me out if the moment and causes me not to pay attention to what is being meant and only what I have to get down in the notes. Transcription and summarization and analysis of the results and working WITH AI to learn more thoroughly in the way that best fits you. Let's live in the now and not 1990, shall we?
Recording lectures and using AI to transcribe note
- Thread starter wintersmd
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Key here is to proof it. I still take key notes during recorded and summarized meetings and have found in several instances the true takeaway was very much different than what the summary said.
Of course these are technical discussions, with some local slang terms thrown in for good measure.
No one is forcing you to do anything. It's been shown that retention increases with manual note taking. They can be as descriptive or basic as you like. Or don't do it.
If you use AI to answer your homework/tests, then you are a fool and deserve to get a 0. Hell, I am new to this AI stuff and thought it was "cheating" until my professor pointed out that when AI is used properly it is just a tool. It is no different than using a published article in a medical magazine or any other reference. Trust what you read but make sure to verify and site that the content is correct.Regarding AI, classes, though not fully on target, I found this interesting if not relevant:
Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible
"Thirty-two of my 35 students between two classes failed a portion of their midterm because they all used AI to generate their entire response."
Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible
A professor used white font to hide instructions to throw off students using an AI chatbot to cheat on their midterm.futurism.com
I did have a few in one of my classes that had AI write a paper for them. It did not end well.
Most of the research on handwritten note-taking predates AI, live transcription, and searchable recordings.
Today, someone can spend class focused on understanding the material and asking questions while they have access to the instructor, then create better notes afterward from a complete transcript.
You can always make notes later, but you can't go back and ask the question you didn't ask during the lecture.
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I think this is the right approach. I agree AI is a tool, the same way a calculator helps do math. There is some benefit to learning basic math without a calculator so students still need to spend some time in class where calculators aren’t allowed, but it would be silly to completely exclude calculators from school.
And as many others have already said, when you get to the work world you can use AI as much as you want as long as you use it responsibly and still do good work.
I know in my son’s high school they have started requiring a lot of stuff be handwritten, which prevents kids from just doing a complete copy/paste from AI. In those instances, if you use AI to help but still write out all of the responses, it’s not that different from how I use AI at work and hopefully there is still some learning occurring so that when the test comes the students will be prepared. If you use AI too much to the point where you are clueless later when the test comes, it would be the same way I would eventually get embarrassed at work if I used AI to do stuff I didn’t really understand.
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Have a great experience during your time at ISU. Obviously many here had one and it can stick with your for life.
Now to your point. I see many tools you could use.
If I were going back to school at this point, here is what I would do, knowing what I know now.
1) Utilize all the tools available to me through Canvas. There you can probably find transcrioptions of the lectures OR you can transcribe them easily from the videos. If those are not readily available, transcribe lectures with something like Pocket or Aura and keep the transcripted lecture as a .txt file labeled per the date, etc. Simultaneously, do what makes you feel good about your absorption of the materials, if it is taking hendwritten notes, do it. If it is staying in the moment and asking questions and conversing with the instructor, do that. If it is some combination or something totally different, figure that out for yourself.
2) I would use the LLM of my choice to summarize and structure the content so you can prioritize the points made and key into what is really important in the lecture (often times we think we need to concentrate on HOW to get the answer instead of why the answer is relevant, etc.) I would have a conversation with the LLM about how it would like to see the summaires organized so it can best have a detailed conversation with you IF you learn well from Socratic exchange (talking with someone else, asking what-if querstions, restating the concept in your words so it sticks in YOUR memory. It is only one thing you can use this for, but it really depends on the person.) IF you care to advance your understanding of the effective use of AI, this part, learning about structuring data, will benefit you for, at least, the short forseeable future. Providing data in a structured manner, is important to getting good results out of AI.
3) I would ALWAYS use the reference materials that the instructor provides to reinforce / confirm all the concepts you believe you are learning. AI can go astray and you need to harness it correctly. Most all of the "hallucinating" that you hear about is poor context supply or management. You should discuss this with your LLM of choice, explain that you only want exchanges that are powered by the context that you provide and it is to use it's BIG BRAIN to discuss those facts that you have given it with you contextually so you can understand the concepts better. Use something like RTIO (Role, Task, Input, Output) to explain exactly its Role (in certain cases it is transcribwer, others it is editor, others it is knowledge manager, others it maybe a Socratic conversation leader.) Task, this is EXACTLY what you want it to do in this case (see the above list). Input (always provide all the information you can about the topic, your notes or intepretations can be added into this for sure, the others are not off, just be sure you are correct by checking your sources.) Output (define exactly what this should look like, what it to contain and not contain and the form you'd like to see it in. Consistent output will help you organize all this in the long run I believe.
If All you care about it note taking, you can disregard the following. But, it is quite honestly a very important set of cencepts for you and others of your age at this time and yes, it is a very different time than many of the folks here experienced.
4) Own your Agency. Decide that you WANT to know about the topic and not just how to get the A. Getting the A in the past was very helpful becuase then you had a piece of paper that got you into the first job and then you learned what you had to know to actually work in that job, etc. Now, as it should have been in the past, you need to know a wide variety of things and how they all interrelate. The deep technical knoweldge necessary for doing things in the past is being supplanted by technology (it started with the WWW to be quite honest.) But, humans still need to be the ones with the drive, the creativity, the general interest to solve THAT problem and the background tht may make the uniquely qualified to utilize tools on behalf of others to solve it.
5) Learn how to think critically. Learn about enough things and don't take anything at face value. When something doesn't seem right based on what you already know, find stable, fact based resources (I know, these are hard to find and trust these days) and dive in, have conversations, even debates with others that also have opinions. I can't tell you what to think, but I believe in science and logic and understand that the world is a complex place. But gravity exists and a lot of things can be explained by its constants, math and science. Humans are another case, but there is science there too. Just not constants or perfectly distributed truths behind their thoughts, feeling or actions.
Edit: One thing I should have mentioned. I don't know what ISU's policy, or an individual professor's policy, is regarding recording lectures or uploading course materials into AI tools. Some instructors may be perfectly fine with it, while others may not. I'd absolutely respect whatever policy they have, and I'd recommend asking if it isn't clear.
That said, if I were choosing a college today, I honestly wouldn't want to do it without AI as a learning tool. Not because I want it to do the work for me, but because I think it's one of the best study partners we've ever had when it's grounded in your own course materials. Used that way, it helps you understand the material better, not avoid learning it.
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Of course it's possible. That wasn't my point.
My point is that for some people, especially in fast-paced lectures, trying to capture everything the instructor says uses so much mental bandwidth that it interferes with actually processing the material. That's a pretty well-established concept in cognitive science.
If AI can handle the transcription, I'd rather spend my attention listening, asking questions, making connections, and thinking about what the instructor is teaching instead of trying to copy every word.
If taking detailed notes works for you (or someone in general), that's great. I'm not arguing against it. I'm arguing that it isn't the best approach for everyone anymore.
I don't even want to think of the challenges AI is creating in the academic world these days. There is good uses for it but probably way more negative uses for it too. I graduated in 2002, had 1 class that the professor apparently used the same notes for the class for several years. We got a copy of those from a frat house that had photocopies of hand written notes someone had taken so just took a highlighter and highlighted the parts the professor put up on the board. Probably 90% of it was the notes we had, he maybe added a few things that we didn't have or skipped over a few things but for the most part the notes matched up lecture by lecture as the semester went on.
They probably were using some kind of software back in the late 90's and on to scan papers and look for plagiarism but I would guess with the AI technology they have now it's far more complex than it used to be and harder to pass AI generated stuff as your own.
Everyone has their own way of learning. I'm not sure how I would have used AI in college compared to what I had available to me at the time for technology. I wasn't the greatest student, I finished with a GPA under 3.0 but the core classes I took related to my major I was over 3 in so was the first couple years of gen-eds and required electives that attributed to my lower GPA. Manual note taking was probably my best method to actually learn and retain information along with classes that were more writing papers or project related vs heavy on tests and quizzes for how the grading was weighted. I'm sill not that great at test taking as an adult either, but if you let me put my thoughts and knowledge to the test by writing a paper or putting them to use in some kind of project that is where I am much more able to apply it,
They probably were using some kind of software back in the late 90's and on to scan papers and look for plagiarism but I would guess with the AI technology they have now it's far more complex than it used to be and harder to pass AI generated stuff as your own.
Everyone has their own way of learning. I'm not sure how I would have used AI in college compared to what I had available to me at the time for technology. I wasn't the greatest student, I finished with a GPA under 3.0 but the core classes I took related to my major I was over 3 in so was the first couple years of gen-eds and required electives that attributed to my lower GPA. Manual note taking was probably my best method to actually learn and retain information along with classes that were more writing papers or project related vs heavy on tests and quizzes for how the grading was weighted. I'm sill not that great at test taking as an adult either, but if you let me put my thoughts and knowledge to the test by writing a paper or putting them to use in some kind of project that is where I am much more able to apply it,
Additionally, most people aren't always locked in every day in the same way. Being tired or distracted may cause you to misinterpret something important and that may be a building block for future lessons. I know I was a zombie during plenty of lectures at ISU and didn't learn at the same level as other days.
My daughter goes to Arkansas and said most of her professors allow recordings during lectures or have their lectures recorded for later viewing. She loves being able to revisit topics that she struggles with. She also takes notes on her Macbook and then uses AI to create sample tests for her classes.
She is very much like me in that we learn better by writing down information. However, that doesn't mean we aren't still looking for other ways to supplement learning.
