THE NUEVA CURRENT IN DIALOGUE WITH AI

The prompt was the same as it had been every year that she taught it to her English 11 students: “Craft an argumentative essay on Frederick Douglass’ biography.” This time though, she was feeding it to her computer.

With curiosity and apprehension, Upper School English Teacher Amber Carpenter hit the “return” key on her keyboard. Her cursor blinked once, then twice, then began to move.

For years, Carpenter had taught high school and college students to craft a well-written essay—to develop a nuanced argument, structure it tactfully, and supplement it with the proper writing devices. So as she watched the ability of the newly released chatbot ChatGPT unfold across her screen— an insentient machine learning algorithm generating a comprehensive essay in mere seconds—she felt simultaneous awe and trepidation.

Carpenter was not alone in her shock. ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based research company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2018 and backed by Microsoft, and became an immediate viral sensation upon its release on Nov. 30, 2022.

Trained on a whopping 570 GB of text data from major online databases such as Wikipedia (166 million words comprise one GB on average), the know-it-all chatbot took the internet by storm with its impressive linguistic abilities and apparent creative capacity. If prompted, ChatGPT can generate analytical essays, explain complex mathematical concepts in simple terms, and “write a biblical verse in the style of the King

James bible explaining how to remove a peanut butter sandwich from a VCR.”

By the fifth day of its release, ChatGPT had amassed more than a million registered users—a feat that technology giants such as Spotify, Facebook, and Instagram took months to achieve. Less than two months later, the chatbot hit an estimated 100 million monthly active users. And now, ChatGPT is the fastest growing consumer internet application in history, according to a UBS study.

Up until now, AI bots available to the public (such as Apple Inc’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s Google Assistant) have been notoriously sub-par. In comparing them to today’s ChatGPT, upper school math teacher Ted Theodosopoulos—who has been involved in work with computational linguistics for several decades—recounts that they were “clunky” and “unnatural.”

“I understand how [ChatGPT] works, so I wasn’t surprised by what it outputted,” said Theodosopoulos, mostly unenthused about his first and only venture into the AI. “But at the same time, I’m quite impressed with how far they’ve come; ChatGPT feels much more fluid than earlier chatbots.”

One reason for ChatGPT’s fluidity is that, unlike many previous chatbots, it can recall previous dialogue. In many ways a casual conversation with ChatGPT, ranging in topic from the weather to the meaning of life, can feel real and personalized. Want to know the secret to good guacamole? Ask ChatGPT.

“Use ripe avocados,” “mash them by hand,” and add cilantro, red onions, and ripe tomatoes just before serving “to keep their flavor and texture intact,” are just a few tidbits of wisdom that the chatbot imparts.

“What if I don’t like tomatoes?”

“If you don't like tomatoes, you can easily leave them out of your guacamole recipe,” ChatGPT responds, before kindly suggesting jalapeños or bell peppers as a replacement.

But like all chatbots, ChatGPT has its limitations. Because it is trained off of data from the nebula of the internet to string together text sequences, it’s not only unable to create anything genuinely new, but also dangerously prone to incorrect responses.

OpenAI acknowledges these shortcomings in the software’s “Limitations” section alongside its capabilities and example prompts on the main chat window: “May occasionally generate incorrect information,” “May occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content,” and “Limited knowledge of world and events after 2021.”

Yet, beyond ChatGPT’s potential factual inaccuracies, teachers such as Carpenter fear that ChatGPT poses a threat to academic integrity and student motivation in classes. If ChatGPT was powerful enough to generate unique, articulate text samples, what was stopping students from using ChatGPT to complete their essays? And if ChatGPT could get the job done, did students even need to learn how to write anymore?

Soon after the AI’s release, opinion essays on ChatGPT written by teachers began to populate news feeds. One article in The Atlantic is titled “The End of High School English,” another, “The College Essay is Dead.” Popular news sources such as The New York Times have since published rebuttals to both articles, but the fear of writing-class obscurity remains.

On Dec.14, Furman University assistant philosophy professor Darren Hick posted on his facebook page about using OpenAI’s AI text classifier to implicate one of his students, who he suspected had used ChatGPT to write a take-home test. The classifier had been “99.9 percent” sure that the work was fake.

“Today, I turned in the first plagiarist I’ve caught using A.I. software to write her work,” he wrote. “Administrations are going to have to develop standards for dealing with these kinds of cases, and they’re going to have to do it FAST… This is too new. But it’s going to catch on… Expect a flood, people, not a trickle.”

Several academic communities have already jumped into action to address these concerns. In early January, New York City Public schools—the largest school district in the U.S.—banned ChatGPT across all district devices and networks. Other large city districts such as Seattle and Los Angeles have since followed in their footsteps.

At the same time, some educators see benefits in working alongside emerging technology like the chatbot, and have published their own opinions. On January 12, Kevin Roose wrote an Op-Ed for The New York Times headlined “Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”

“After talking with dozens of educators over the past few weeks, I’ve come around to the view that banning ChatGPT from the classroom is the wrong move,” Roose argues. “Instead, I believe schools should thoughtfully embrace ChatGPT as a teaching aid—one that could unlock student creativity, offer personalized tutoring, and better prepare students to work alongside A.I. systems as adults.”

Amidst the heyday of differing opinions, the overarching question remains the same, and appears to be one that the seemingly all-knowing chatbot can’t answer: What does ChatGPT mean for the future of education? Does that answer change at a “gifted” school like Nueva?

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Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day explores “Joy as Resistance”

toward empowered action.” Participants were able to connect physically and spiritually with themselves, others, and their ancestors.

Post Malone and Doja Cat’s “I Like You” blares in Portable 1 as laughter explodes out of “Embodied Resilience”—one of the many workshop offerings of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day programming on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Students spent the day immersed in social justice film screenings, workshops, and a Q&A with Tony Lindsay, lead singer of rock band Santana.

This year, the justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) team—composed of Director of Social Justice & Equity Savannah Strong and Coordinator of Social Justice and Equity Matthew Oakland—chose to center this year’s programming around “joy as resistance.”

“We wanted to lean into the resistance, resilience, and joy that folx who live life on the margins build for themselves,” Strong said, reflecting on how violence and pain have defined the narrative of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) in the country. In past years, themes have included nonviolence activism and economic injustice.

Strong’s workshop, “Embodied Resilience,” aimed to “lift spirits” and “point the way

“We lied on the floor and just got to think,” said Ari S. ’26, who enjoyed the workshop’s simplicity.

Another workshop offered was “Hip Hop Hooray, Hip Hop Our Woes” led by Dani Moseley, upper school Campus Receptionist & Administrative Assistant. Students not only learned about hip hop, rap, and poetry as tools for expression, joy, and resistance but also wrote their own lyrics.

“It was refreshing to see how different people express themselves,” said Jules S. ’26, who participated in the workshop.

For 12th-grade dean and I-Lab teacher Rob Zomber, MLK Day is one of his favorite Nueva traditions because of “the value of the themes [explored].”

“We get to take a day to just learn and discover the inherent joy of learning,” Zomber said.

Students and faculty left the day with not only joy on their minds, but also a deeper understanding of what resistance may look like: dancing, art or poetry, music, connecting with family and heritage, and much more.

Upper school celebrates Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival

STORY Alice T.

PHOTO Grace F. orders 22 of singing Valentine-Grams

Led by students and faculty, the Lunar New Year assembly and lunch activities on Jan. 25 showcased the different ways Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese cultures celebrate the new year.

"I appreciate that we were able to celebrate such a joyous occasion with the entire school,” said Mei Mei L. ’24, a Mandarin student. For Mei Mei, her favorite part of the assembly was singing the traditional Lunar New Year song, "GongXi," (恭喜恭喜) with fellow Mandarinspeaking students.

During lunch, the East Asian, Filipino, Korean, and Taiwanese affinity groups prepared a variety of traditional foods and games in the cafe courtyard. Korean Affinity Group prepared hot pot with fish cakes, tofu, green onions, and cabbage, while East Asian and Taiwanese affinity groups brought white rabbit candies and tangyuan (汤圆)—which in Chinese culture, symbolizes being together with your loved ones and family.

Next to the tables of food, upper school Mandarin teacher Jamie Gao set up stations for calligraphy, board games such as Chinese chess (象棋), checkers (跳棋), and Go (围棋), fan designing, and red envelopes filled with chocolate coins.

For Jamie C. ’24, the activities brought back a strong sense of nostalgia.

“It [reminds me] of my grandma’s house,” Jamie said, while painting a violet butterfly on a hand-held fan.

The following week, on Feb. 3rd, East Asian affinity group lead Aria G. ’25 hosted a charity potluck for Lantern Festival—a holiday celebrated in East-Asian countries honoring deceased ancestors. All proceeds were donated to the Asian Mental Health Collective.

The potluck featured Taiwanese, Filipino, Korean, East Asian, and Vietnamese booths with traditional dishes such as Chinese spring rolls (春卷);

Vietnamese pandan waffles (Bánh Kẹp Lá D a); matcha Korean pancakes (호떡), fried sesame balls (芝麻球) with red bean filling, and dalgona (달고나), a honeycomb sugar candy.

“I had a lot of fun and it was nice to see people happy,” said Wyatt T. ’25, who managed the Vietnamese stand.

The potluck was a success for Gao, who was proud of how the potluck “[brought] together the community.”

Photo of the Issue:

sold for the Winter Formal on Feb. 10 tickets

East Asian, Taiwanese, Filipino, and Korean affinity groups hosted a charity potluck on the evening of Feb. 3 to celebrate the Lantern Festival. In the photo, Isabelle S. '23 and Izzy X. '24 serve Chinese spring rolls, fried sesame balls, potstickers, and noodles to students and faculty.

The five student-led booths ultimately raised over $800 for the Asian Mental Health Collective, a non-profit organization aimed at normalizing and destigmatizing mental health in the Asian community.

State of Nueva looks to the next five years

STORY Aaron H.

Parents, faculty, and staff settled into their seats—both at home and in the WRC—the night of Jan. 12, ready to watch Head of School Lee Fertig’s third State of Nueva presentation. Fertig provided updates about the school, focusing specifically on the new strategic framework and the progress Nueva has made on several key initiatives.

Fertig began by sharing brief updates and announcements about Nueva this year. He announced the hiring of a new director of athletics and physical education (read more about Brett McCabe on page 23) and the ambition to fill the director of teaching and learning role by this coming summer.

Following the community updates, Fertig reflected on “where we’re headed.” He celebrated the success of the Realize The Potential (RTP) capital campaign, which ended on Dec. 31, 2022 and met its $100 million goal. The campaign allowed Nueva to add $35 million to its endowment and construct facilities such as the upper school’s Diane Rosenberg Wing and the Hillsborough campus’ Science and Environmental Center.

A major focus of his presentation was introducing the school’s 2022–2027 strategic framework.

A “renewal of identity” for Nueva, the framework was adopted by the Board of Trustees on May 25, 2022 with a series of 12 initiatives under three priorities: Renew, Belong, and Innovate.

“The strategic framework is a powerful blueprint that will ensure that each Nueva student is equipped to make choices that benefit the world, long into the future,” Fertig said.

“Renew” focuses on enhancing the current class offerings at Nueva and ensures the school remains deeply rooted in its initial mission, vision, and values, such as fostering lifelong learning, curiosity, and community.

“Belong” fosters inclusion and wellness; by increasing the support and belonging of everyone in the community, Nueva hopes to ensure “every member is able to thrive.”

“Innovate” builds for Nueva’s future and intends to “support students, educators, and parents through visionary new offerings,” according to the strategic framework website. The 12 initiatives can be read in detail at www. nuevaschool.org/sf.

Lending an ear

World-renowned psychologist

guest speaks at NeuroPsych Club

importance in the real world.”

Students explore podcasting for social justice during Intersession

They analyzed her experiments, debated her theories on memory, and watched her present on the stage of TED—and on Thursday, Feb. 2, 21 students had the opportunity to speak with this pioneer in the psychology world for half an hour, face-to-face.

Elizabeth Loftus, honored as one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century by the American Psychological Association’s review, elaborated on her research on the “fiction,” or unreliability, of memories in the virtual interview hosted by the NeuroPsych Club. In the talk, Loftus sparked conversation on the connections between psychology and legal justice.

For instance, mistaken eyewitness identifications contributed to 69 percent of 375 wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. Loftus had revealed how memory can be radically altered by how an eyewitness is questioned; new memories can be implanted and old ones unconsciously altered.

Going from discussions about Loftus’ research in psychology courses to direct conversation with her, Nathan L. ’23 valued how her studies highlighted “psychology’s

And what stood out to Michelle Z. ’23, who took Introduction to Psychology last semester, was how “down-to-earth” Loftus was in answering questions despite all her “groundbreaking” work.

“I asked if she had any advice for students interested in pursuing psychology as a career and she really encouraged anyone passionate in the subject to try it out,” Michelle said.

Similarly, Jordan D. ’24, co-lead of NeuroPsych Club, hopes students take away how “applicable psychology is to different career paths.”

The idea to interview Loftus coincidentally emerged from a family game in Jordan's household two weeks prior.

“We started talking about Loftus and my mom was like, ‘I was on a panel with her,’” Jordan recalled. “I never would've expected [my mom] to have a connection like that.”

Jordan's favorite part was reading everyone’s questions on a form the club sent out prior to the interview.

“I loved seeing such an active psychology community where everyone cares about what [Loftus] does,” Jordan said. “I hope they leave wanting to learn more.”

Looking to feature more speakers in the spring, the club hopes to expand Nueva’s psychology community beyond the school’s walls.