Reviving the Philosophical Dialogue with Large Language Models
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Robert Smithson (Creator)
- Adam Zweber (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
Abstract: Many philosophers have argued that large language models (LLMs) subvert the traditional undergraduate philosophy paper. For the enthusiastic, LLMs merely subvert the traditional idea that students ought to write philosophy papers “entirely on their own.” For the more pessimistic, LLMs merely facilitate plagiarism. We believe that these controversies neglect a more basic crisis. We argue that, because one can, with minimal philosophical effort, use LLMs to produce outputs that at least “look like” good papers, many students will complete paper assignments in a way that fails to develop theirphilosophical abilities. We argue that this problem exists even if students can produce better papers with AI and even if instructors can detect AI-generated content with decent reliability. But LLMs also create a pedagogical opportunity. We propose that instructors shift the emphasis of their assignments from philosophy papers to LLM dialogues: philosophical conversations betweenthe student and an LLM. We describe our experience with using these types of assignments over the past several semesters. We argue that, far from undermining quality philosophical instruction, LLMs allow us to teach philosophy more effectively than was possible before.
Reviving the Philosophical Dialogue with Large Language Models
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Created on 8/19/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Smithson, Robert & Zweber, Adam. (2024, June). Reviving the philosophical dialogue with large language Models. Teaching Philosophy, 47 (2), 143-171. https://doi.org/10.5840/teachphil2024424196
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Keywords
- large language models, artificial intelligence, philosophy papers, LLMs, dialogue