OpenAI ‘was working on advanced model so powerful it alarmed staff’
- The artificial intelligence (AI) Model triggered such alarm with OpenAI researchers that they wrote to the board of directors.
- The model, called Q* (Q-star) was able to solve basic maths problems it had not seen before, which added that the pace of development behind the system alarmed some safety researchers.
- The ability to solve maths problems would be viewed as a significant development in AI.
- Many experts are concerned that companies such as OpenAI are moving too fast towards developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), the term for a system that can perform a variety of tasks at human or above human levels of intelligence.
- The ChatGPT developer states that it was established with the goal of developing “safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity” and that the for-profit company would be “legally bound to pursue the nonprofit’s mission.”
- For more, please visit The Guardian website.
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School leaders in England feel lockdown ‘broke spell’ of bond with parents
- The chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman has reported: “The social contract between parents and schools has been fractured by lockdowns and closures.”
- Ms Spielman warned: “That social contract took years to build and consolidate and it will take time to restore.”
- Some headteachers have experienced hostile parents who have become unresponsive to a school’s request, with some using social media forums to target individual teachers and school leaders over behaviour decisions or attendance policies.
- Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders reported: “Parents are increasingly willing to challenge school rules themselves. This applies to a minority of parents and pupils, but it is a significant problem, absorbing time and energy and putting school leaders and staff under enormous additional pressure and stress.”
- Spielman warned against part-time attendance, designed to reintegrate pupils suffering from illness or anxiety, stating that this ultimately means they “don’t get the education they should be getting.”
- For more, please visit The Guardian website.
Pupil reading standards fall in Wales since Covid
- Reading standards of seven to 14-year-olds in Wales have fallen back since the pandemic, according to new figures.
- The most recent Welsh reading tests show the biggest decline with performance the equivalent of 11 months behind results in 2020-21.
- English reading was four months below previous levels.
- Jeremy Miles, education minister, reported: “Too many teachers tell me they are seeing challenging behaviour, worse attendance and lower level of literacy and numeracy.”
- The procedural numeracy assessment also highlighted a decline overall, with results in 2022-23 being four months behind 2018-19, and up to eight months lower for the youngest children in years two and three.
- Mr Miles reported that an updated toolkit to help with teaching reading and oracy would be published.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
