Never Forget

AI: Threat to Academics, or a Tool for Learning?

EDWARD GALLARES | CBA

This year, 2023, has brought us a revolutionary new tool that uses an AI language model to converse with. It can help with homework, be a conversational partner, and in my case, help me understand the emotions that I’ve been going through.

I’ve been using ChatGPT as my go-to “person” when looking for ideas. As a conversational tool, it has given me a lot of useful information that was actually helpful to my work and subsequently, to class as well.

discriminate or provide information that can promote discrimination, and will forget your query every time you refresh the page. It is, in my opinion, a very wholesome and friendly tool. I have been relying on it to write copywritten captions, a few SEO (Search Engine Optimization) articles, and even to check the grammar in my essays!

2. I do not use it for essays and other homework. As a language model, giving it the same prompt will result in the same answers. If not the same, then similar. Additionally, essays as a test and homework were designed to help us think critically, meaning that the use of an AI tool would be cheating and counterproductive, leaving us dumber than before.

Thirty-seven years ago, millions of Filipinos across the nation gathered and marched on the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. Their goal was to reclaim their liberty by overthrowing the dictatorial rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, which they achieved.

Revolutions generally take years to build up and resolve, yet in just the course of a few days Filipinos showed that when united as one nation, anything is possible. In a four-day demonstration, Marcos’ 20-year rule as president and 14-year dictatorship was upended. They had ousted Marcos in a globally inspiring civilian-led nonviolent protest that would go down as one of the most momentous revolutions in modern history.

The revolution was a manifestation of years of discontentment. When Marcos declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972, he took full control of the courts and the nation entered a dark time. Under him, the Philippines’ public infrastructure soared—along with the country’s debt. Many Filipinos experienced extreme poverty while the nation’s foreign debt continued to hike. His reign was marked by a multitude of human rights violations, corruption, and censorship of the media. Thousands of his opponents were killed, tortured, or had disappeared.

However, just as we commemorate the day this dictatorship came to an end, a new president resides in Malacañang palace—his son.

Last Feb. 23, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. moved the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution from Feb. 25, 2023, to Feb. 24, 2023.

As stipulated in the signed Proclamation No. 167, this change would be done “provided that the historical significance of EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary is maintained.”

Marcos declared Feb. 24, a Friday, a special non-working holiday to lengthen the weekend in commemoration of the anniversary. The rationale behind the change of

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Stefan R. Saldon dates was pursuant to the principle of “holiday economics,” a practice meant to benefit the economy since people were expected to travel and spend more during the long weekends. This was introduced by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Netizens debated online on the change of the anniversary date, especially with Marcos’ background as the dictator’s son.

Filipino Historian, Xiao Chua, stated that he was not a fan of moving holidays since “it confuses people and is making them about vacations instead of commemorating.” Some netizens also agreed with his sentiments.

One said, “Valid point. You wouldn’t move the Christmas holiday or June 12th, would you?”

Meanwhile, a comment said that nothing is changed. “It is still Feb. 25 that people can commemorate the spirit of EDSA Revolution.”

On the other end, netizens criticized the last-minute announcement. A lawyer expressed on Twitter, “It’s good that holiday economics is back. What’s not okay is making last-minute announcements for something that could have been long planned out. Some people need advance notice for a lot of things, including financial transactions.”

Another netizen criticized the rationale of holiday economics as it requires planning ahead of time. “[As far as I know] holiday economics was used for people to travel more and increase consumption during long weekends. But it entails planning for the working public, di yung on the spot, declare agad na walang pasok, end of business day pa [not declaring it on the spot, and at the end of the business day]. And in this economy?”

Regardless of the online discourse, one thing remains true— the dark history of our nation must be remembered. The echoes of the Filipinos that marched in EDSA, calling to end a tyrannical rule must be perpetually memorialized. tWS

Now you might say that it’s cheating, but I think as technology progresses, we need to learn how we can adapt to it in a way that is helpful to our place of learning. ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI, was trained using deep learning techniques on a large dataset of text. It is capable of understanding and generating text on a wide range of topics.

However, the company has put in a lot of safeguards which you will read when you first enter the chatroom. It is designed to decline inappropriate requests, will not

However, overusing the tool can lead to over-dependence, and you know what? Human progress has always been dependent on how we can critically think. Our rationality and reason; our desire to make life easier have been key factors for our technological progress. In this case, ChatGPT might actually become detrimental when overused.

So in order to ensure my growth as a student, I’ve set down two rules:

1. I remember that Chat is just a tool (Sadly, I’ve become endeared to ChatGPT and have given him the nickname “Chat,” which is a French word for cat. I used to have a cat in Bohol who I talked to when I wrote my articles to help me think. So ChatGPT is now “le Chat”).

On Caring More to be Loved

ZARELLE GLEN DOROTHY VILLANZANA

I understand it now, this craving for romance. By the utterance of the word, a holler would be heard from the hallways, shrieks and howls caused as if people have turned into a pack of wolves. A trigger from the crowd is evoked, one that varies in effect, dependent on the person’s situation. Sparks would fly, and inevitably, sneers uncontained by those struck by the bitter resolution that they have none in their lives— or so they think. A third of the population would be unmoved, devoid of interest as they have more important matters to ponder. Most would think I belong there, and I wish I still was. It all seemed easier.

Now I magnify the little things, give meaning to minor details, and reflect on past events wishing I had been more attentive. Maybe then I would have secured something (someone) by now, or that I’ve experienced the very thing others so longed to have. It’s a silly thought, and the adults would tell me I’m too young. At a young age, I am made very much aware of putting my priorities straight. However, I would be lying if I said I never thought about it once at this age.

Pieces of advice are redundant: love yourself first, you cannot pour from an empty cup, don’t rush things as they will come in due time, family is forever, and you are too young to be worrying about love. I do not worry, but is it not natural to desire? We are human after all.

All the more, it is heightened by everyone else’s same preoccupation. It is heightened with every poetic song lyric dedicated to another, with every romantic encounter found in fiction or in reality, with every existing relationship deemed healthy. I hush it down and drench myself in work in hopes that it is only boredom. “I am better than this,” I think; “I don’t need this,” I think; “I am too young,” I think; “There are far more important things,” I think. Quietly, I bottle up the emotion, hoping it dusts away and disappears. I recognize it as a threat, as I have been taught. Although, it can’t be helped. It jumps out without warning, and I am left puzzled in taming it, quite perplexed as to how I could escape the constant ebbs and flows. But like the ocean, are the waves ought to be restrained?

Don’t the surfers find delight in their magnitude? Even the onlookers, the regular people, do they not appreciate the mere existence of the waters?

A slideshow plays in my head, a collection of moments in media dabbling on the theme of love. There are too many, but standing out is Jo’s monologue from Little Women. The last part emphasized, most times left out, her voice trembles to say, “But I’m so lonely.” This same person who told her sister that she would be bored with her lover and that their sisterhood will be interesting forever, who valued her independence more than to be weighed down by the idea of marriage, who would put her family first and career second— she was the same person who realized later she cared more to be loved by someone, anyone. the Weekly Sillimanian is published every week by the students of Silliman University, with editorial and business addresses at 1/F Oriental Hall, Silliman University, Hibbard Avenue, Dumaguete City 6200, Philippines, SU PO Box 24. Telephone number (35) 4226002 loc. 243.

I believe that one day, ChatGPT, or an iteration of it, will be a centralized part of our education in the future. Just as cell phones were banned back then in classrooms, it has now become an integral part of our school life. AI language models will soon be a part of the curriculum, and whether that is a bad thing remains to be seen.

But I’m optimistic. Technology utilized progressively will always be good and I see its potential. I tested it by conversing with it regarding my mental health, behavior, and personal opinions—its replies have always been neutral. I don’t recommend using it to cheat, but hey, you do you, schoolmate. At the end of the day, if you use technology to cheat, you’re not really cheating the school or the system, you’re cheating yourself.

“That is not the same as loving,” her Marmee would say.

It is not the same as loving. Being loved is not the same as loving. Perhaps then that is how it should be. If we cannot receive the love we so desire yet, then at least let us be the first ones to lay it out, to give it away. If we cannot learn to love ourselves first, then at least we can learn to explicitly love other people, and in doing so, familiarity would make it easier to treat ourselves likewise. Our own capacity for compassion will inevitably establish the reciprocation we search for everywhere. It is never easy, but humanity cannot come from anywhere else but ourselves. In a world devoid of emotion, let love be an act of rebellion.

Valentine’s Day may seem an exclusive celebration of reciprocated love, but looking past the blinds, a wide space is dedicated to the day-to-day givers, those who are capable of expressing love through gifts, gestures, or words, without expectation, perhaps a little hesitation, but braving through nonetheless, and regardless of the result, is still content— all this, just because they can.

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