“He is very innovative”, “This professor writes on the black board!”. Initially radio hosts Parag Gupta and Jean-Paul Linnartz invited award-winning TU/e teacher Oded Raz for his view on the use of artificial intelligence in education. Oded is not only a columnist  for the Eindhoven University of Technology opinion magazine Cursus, he also is thought leader on education in his own series of podcasts and a vocal member of electrical engineering teaching staff. He has a right to speak up: student highly appreciate his style and his approach to educating.

Yet, instead of diving straight into the role of AI in education, for better or for worse, Oded reveals that he is skeptical about modern aids such as powerpoint. He recently rediscovered how students learn more if a teacher develops the thoughts, the math, the ideas step by step, live on the board. So, in this podcast we start off by looking in more detail into how our brain absorbs knowledge. An essential part of mastering a topic is to be able to actively use the theory, and apply it both in routine and in novel ways. Making homework assignments really serves a purpose. Letting AI do homework for you, may come with unpleasant surprises during the exam.

But, should we be scared about a future  generation of engineers who know more about how to use AI than about their technical field? Do we need to know about the details of processing inside micro-electronic IC’s to help create better smart phone, or to design an autonomous car? Haven’t we continuously raised the level of abstraction at which we look into systems?

Join the debate on Radio 4 Brainport, Eindhoven