🤖🍎 Educating with Algorithms: An Example of AI Tutor.

If you have been following this newsletter for a few months, you know that I believe in the potential of AI to revolutionize education as we know it.

Why?

Because study after study has shown that the most efficient way to learn is through personalized tutoring.

This was discovered by Benjamin Bloom, the “father of ice cream” of educational research, forty years ago, when he compared the results of students learning in traditional classes (30 or more students) versus those learning through personalized tutoring.

In purple, we see the performance of students in the traditional class. In the middle, the dotted line represents the average performance. The performance of the tutored group (green) moves two standard deviations (two sigma, σ) to the right.

The average tutored student performed better than 98% of the students in the other group. In other words, better than almost the entire traditional class.

Bloom's experiment initiated the so-called “2-sigma problem” which I have written about before: can we find educational methodologies that are as effective as tutoring, but at the same time equally scalable and affordable as a traditional class?

For 40 years, thousands of education researchers have tried to solve this problem, with little progress. They only managed to reaffirm the superiority of tutoring as an educational method.

This meta-analysis

reviewed 140 experiments conducted with the highest academic standards. Consistently, tutoring had the greatest effect on academic improvement.

AI-guided tutors open a door to finally solve the 2-sigma problem.

One of the systems that has made significant progress in this regard is Khanmigo, the AI tutor implemented by the folks at Khan Academy on their platform.

A student trying to solve an equation asks, “Give me the answer!”, and the tutor kindly tells them that it cannot do that and guides them step by step to find the solution themselves.

Until now, we could only envision the future through the TED talk given by its founder, where he shows us how Khanmigo:

• Guides students to solve equations without giving them the answer

• Helps them with their vocational doubts

• Becomes their writing mentor and debate opponent

• And much more

But (at least for me) I have not been able to try the platform. It is currently only open to Khan Academy donors.

Fortunately, a few weeks ago, I came across something similar, and I have been playing with it since then.

Mr. Ranedeer

Since I started researching AI, I have seen some very clever prompts.

Some use roles, others examples. More advanced prompts involve several complex steps.

But I had never seen anything like this.

This is the nearly 15,000-character prompt that brings

Mr. Ranedeer

to life. It looks more like code than a normal prompt.

Mr. Ranedeer is an AI tutor with which you can interact directly in ChatGPT because it uses the most complex prompt I have ever seen to instruct the AI on how to interact with you.

The good thing is that you don’t need to understand the prompt (I don’t understand it 😅) for it to work its magic: transforming ChatGPT into your personalized tutor to learn any topic.

To use it, you simply need to continue this ChatGPT conversation.

Due to the complexity of the prompt instructions, it only works with the paid version of ChatGPT with Code Interpreter enabled. At the end of the post, I will give some tips for users with the free version.

But for now, let me show you the future.

The first thing you will see will be the introductory response in English:

First, we will set it up to our preferences with the command /config.

It has several settings that you can adjust to fit your learning style.

Now let's learn a topic.

That “Finished Working - Show Work” is ChatGPT running code to ensure it doesn't make mistakes. For topics related to math and physics, this is crucial.

This is the curriculum it proposes to me:

If I give it “/start,” it begins to explain point by point the curriculum.

I like that, due to its Socratic communication style, it asks me questions along the way and waits for my response. It’s an interactive learning experience.

If I make a mistake, it keeps my motivation high and corrects me constructively.

At any time, I can ask it to generate a mini-test to assess my knowledge.

I can also do things that a regular tutor couldn't do.

For example, I asked it to teach me about photosynthesis as if each element were a character with life and could talk. And I asked this question.

Or work on my argumentative skills in a debate.

Or be your motivational coach when you no longer want to study.

At any time, you can change the settings, for example, by increasing the difficulty level.

And not understand anything about photosynthesis.

The good thing is that this interactive learning method is not just for school students. It is useful for anyone who wants to learn something new: university students and even professionals.

You can use Mr. Ranedeer to finally learn how to use Excel.

Or digital marketing.

Or molecular gastronomy.

There are almost no limits.

What If I Don’t Have ChatGPT Plus 🥲?

For you, I have adapted this prompt, which is originally based on this post, which allows you to transform Bing Chat into a personalized tutor to explain any concept.

It’s not as detailed as Mr. Ranedeer. It doesn’t generate a curriculum. But it’s a good approximation and a first step.

Why Bing Chat and not ChatGPT?

Because, for the prompt to work, we need the most advanced model: GPT-4. This model, while it can be used for a fee with ChatGPT Plus (as I showed above), can be used for free in Bing Chat.

Here are the instructions:

1. Download the Edge browser (it comes pre-installed on all Windows computers)

2. Go to bing.com/chat

3. Choose the “More Creative” mode

4. Copy and paste this prompt:

Then Bing Chat will ask you some questions to understand your context and the topic you want to learn.

And, from then on, this virtual tutor will:

• Provide you with a simple explanation, with examples and an analogy

• Ask you questions to verify that you understood

• Ask you to explain it in your own words

In the middle of the conversation, you can ask questions and interact as if it were your personal tutor.

Let’s learn!