DeepSummary
The podcast discusses strategies for obtaining better responses from AI chatbots, such as asking them to impersonate an expert or a character from Star Trek, providing emotional encouragement, or instructing them to take a methodical approach. Researchers have found that framing questions in these ways can lead to improved accuracy and usefulness.
The episode also covers the struggles of the online education company 2U, which partnered with reputable universities to provide comprehensive digital learning services. As competition increased and student interests shifted, 2U faced declining enrollment, mounting debt, and difficulty securing a buyer due to high marketing costs.
Melissa Korn, a higher education reporter, shares insights into 2U's challenges, including students' mixed experiences with the programs, aggressive marketing tactics, and the company's efforts to restructure and cut costs. The situation highlights the future of online higher education extending beyond the pandemic.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Framing questions to AI chatbots in specific ways, such as asking them to role-play or providing emotional encouragement, can improve the accuracy and usefulness of their responses.
- Online education company 2U partnered with universities to provide comprehensive digital learning services but faced declining enrollment and mounting debt due to increased competition and changing student interests.
- 2U's struggles highlight the evolving landscape of online higher education and the challenges faced by for-profit companies in adapting to shifting market dynamics.
- Students' experiences with 2U's programs were mixed, with some finding them life-changing and others feeling misled by aggressive marketing tactics.
- The future of online higher education extends beyond the pandemic, as universities and students recognize the potential for self-sustaining digital learning programs.
- AI chatbots, while advanced, are still opaque systems that may surprise researchers with their capabilities and responses to unconventional prompts.
- Obtaining high-quality responses from AI chatbots requires a conversational approach rather than treating them like traditional search engines.
- Companies like 2U face challenges in restructuring and cutting costs to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “They are trained on billions and billions of words of human created documents, language, etcetera. And unlike Google searches, they want to have a little conversation with you.“ by Bart Zegler
- “They can't explain it, but they used this specialized software called an automatic prompt creator, which asks the AI chatbot itself how to get better answers out of it.“ by Bart Zegler
- “The landscape had changed significantly in the past, I'd say half dozen years compared with what it was the first decade of their existence.“ by Melissa Korn
- “There are a lot of students who absolutely love their programs and say that they were life changing. They wouldn't have been able to get a master's if they hadn't taken this, or they wouldn't have gone down a new career path without that boot camp.“ by Melissa Korn
- “But there are some who say that it wasn't quite what they expected. There's a group of students that sued University of Southern California saying that their social work program in partnership with two U was misleading.“ by Melissa Korn
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Episode Information
WSJ Tech News Briefing
The Wall Street Journal
5/13/24
Education tech company 2U set out to bridge the divide between for-profit online learning and highly reputable universities. Now it’s mired in debt and facing competition from former clients. WSJ higher education reporter Melissa Korn joins host Zoe Thomas to explain 2U’s long, steep fall. Plus, WSJ contributor Bart Ziegler shares strategies for getting the best answers from AI chatbots.
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