A: AI is incapable of critical thinking. B: AI canât do critical thinking! C: B also lacks critical thinking⊠D: Donât most of us have critical thinking skills to begin with?
boomerang joke
You are an instructor teaching critical thinking. List three things that humans have a high tendency to assume unknowingly and provide an example of critical thinking for each.
Humans tend to think in terms of various assumptions. Accepting these assumptions without being aware of them can lead to prejudice and misunderstanding. Below are three of the most common assumptions that people often tend to make without being aware of them, and examples of critical thinking for each.
- Stereotypes and prejudices: People may have general images and expectations of certain groups of people based on information received within a society or culture.
- Example: A stereotype exists that âwomen are more sensitiveâ.
- Critical thinking: how many women does this stereotype actually apply to? Also, what does it mean to be highly susceptible? Could other factors (culture, personal experience, etc.) change susceptibility? Questions such as these raise questions and challenge common assumptions.
- Confirmation bias: People tend to accept information that supports their beliefs and ideas and ignore information that opposes them.
- Example: Browsing only information that reinforces oneâs opinion on social networking sites and skipping over opposing opinions.
- Critical thinking: What opposing views or information do you have? Ask yourself if your opinions are influenced by confirmation bias. Be willing to incorporate information from different sources in an effort to broaden your overall perspective.
- Assumptions based on past experience: Past experience is often the basis for current judgments and thinking, but it is not always correct.
- E.g.: âWe tried it in the past and it didnât work, so it wonât work this time eitherâ.
- Critical thinking: are past experiences and current situations taking place under the same conditions? Do past mistakes need to be repeated in the current situation or conditions? While referring to past experience, calmly analyze the current situation and consider new approaches if necessary.
The key to critical thinking is to be aware of these tendencies, always question your assumptions and ideas, and view information and situations from multiple perspectives.
Please do some critical thinking on the above statement.
Understood. I will analyze the above statements from a critical thinking perspective.
- Stereotypes and prejudice statements
- Question: does the stereotype that âwomen are more sensitiveâ really exist? In which cultures and regions is it considered so?
- Suggestion: specific references and studies should be cited to show how commonly this stereotype is believed.
- Statement on Confirmation Bias
- Question: you used social networking sites as an example, but can we say that not all users of social networking sites suffer from confirmation bias?
- Suggestion: provide more general examples and specific situations where confirmation bias is likely to occur to enhance understanding.
- Statement of assumptions based on past experience
- Question: isnât it true that not all people base their current decisions on past experiences? And isnât it always a bad thing to refer to past experiences?
- Suggestion: clearly state the advantages and disadvantages of past experience and how it affects current decisions.
- General Comments
- While the above remarks are stated as general ideas and trends, the discussion should be based on more specific evidence and data at each point. A deeper understanding would also be gained by touching on the background and causes of each trend, and under what circumstances it becomes particularly pronounced.
AI may be able to do more critical thinking than most humans, and we can verify that, but people who claim âAI cannot do critical thinkingâ without trying to verify it, and people who believe that opinion without verifying it, cannot do critical thinking.
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