Reflection of the Use of Artificial Intelligence
Introduction The very first task in ICS 314 that involved or rather benefitted from the use of artificial intelligence was completing simple tasks starting with ones like “reverse a string” or many other tasks that involved the console log. These tasks demonstrated probably the most resilient uses of artificial intelligence; it made completion of these tasks to be accomplished in 5 minutes. All references to artificial intelligence in this text will be primarily concerning ChatGPT. Hereby, they will be referred to simply as “ChatGPT”. Also, ChatGPT gives not only working and productive answers, it gives answers using the same tools learned in class that are streamlined, so it is a great tool when writing some of these simpler programs. Another type of project that is surprisingly easy is using ChatGPT to make a mockup of a website using HTML and other web design tools. What makes these mockups extremely easy is not needed to make a CSS file or many other files, you simply need one for the homepage. One is able to easily make changes such as changing the url of an image or perhaps something about the alignment of the footer or color of the links very easily once the majority of the code has been completed.
Yes, asking questions or double checking became a regular habit.
Impact on Learning and Understanding As I may have already stated and will continue to state, I believe artificial intelligence such as chatGPT is both a useful tool, allowing you to tackle far more difficult tasks, and an impediment to learning. From my personal experience with ICS at Kapiolani Community college, I was happier with my education and sought to continue as a computer science student when I was completing 100 percent of my work without the use of Artificial intelligence. This is perhaps overlooking the fact that to some extent, it’s use will become a necessity as you reach higher levels in software engineerning.
Practical Applications The beauty of artificial intelligence is that it has a large number of uses. I have found it a useful tool in many of my classes. For example, when I am writing a philosophy essay on a certain book, I can bounce certain ideas off of ChatGPT in order to delve deeper into my own thought process and strengthen my arguments. However, I have not been successful at relying on ChatGPT to provide accurate quotes or page numbers related to quotes. Even when given the correct edition, it is hit or miss. Once again, we see we should not rely too heavily on the use of A.I. or the quality of our work is affected.
Challenges But, things get slightly more complicated when you start using pgadmin and more of the command line in database projects, and even the basic next.js project involves additional steps and files. However, ChatGPT is able to guide you through processes such as pgadmin and npx prisma db seed, just as it has been doing with simpler commands like npm install the whole time. The process gets slightly more complicated to the point of being unmanageable when you are developing websites with many components. Let’s say you have to edit the file for the footer, page.tsx, a css file, or anything else. This can be an overwhelming process for completion with ChatGPT, because the artificial intelligence itself seems less able to juggle many tasks; it would rather accept one task at a time. Getting a more complicated project completed is not always a matter of simply asking one question, it often involves asking many separate questions about the separate components and ChatGPT tries its very best to juggle all these different answers so that they can all be integrated together properly but I have found that this is one of its greatest shortcomings.
Comparative Analysis For a comparative analysis I would like to give my personal experience which was my first time using A.I. in ICS 314 compared to 3-4 semesters of ICS at Kapiolani Community college. In my own experience, there were good and bad sides to the use of A.I. With the help of A.I., doing tasks like mockups, I was able to make some of the best projects I have ever created in my software engineering career. However, when tackling simpler projects in ICS 111, 211, and 212, I learned much more by doing each concept myself, which is why I did well enough on tests to pass the class. For me, A.I. is both a tool and also a crutch. You may be able to integrate it to make more complex software than without it, but it also acts as a stopper on the education process if the student relies on it too much.
I think the potential for A.I. in the future is far-reaching and will possibly be the greatest revolution in labor, especially in careers such as software engineering. I think the use of A.I. in fields like medicine will become substantial, and it is even fun to think about changes regarding the use of A.I. in fields such as law. A good structural example of the stronger fields of Artificial Intelligence is S.T.E.M. – Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These advancements may even continue at the rate they have been going, it is difficult to predict.