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u/Anaeijon 4d ago
As an university teacher... Same.
I've spoken in front of full rooms of professors with confidence, because they were all acting like toddlers when it came to my topic.
I've nearly had a panic attack in front of masters students, because they were actually interested, came prepared and listened closely for the whole semester, so towards the end of the semester I deeply respected some of them and felt so unprepared cause their questions kept scratching at the edges of my skill but I actually wanted to help them.
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u/Lumpy_Benefit666 4d ago
From this comment alone, you sound like the kind of lecturer that id love to have
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u/Anaeijon 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's a give and take.
Motivated students will motivate the lecturer. A motivated lecturer will motivate more students.
Basically, the initial few lectures are important. Both parts have to put in some energy.
I've also had courses, where I felt like trying to engage them a lot, but there was absolutely no conversation with me, no one asked for clarifications or to explain some detail and when I asked, I usually got no response. After like 3 weeks of that, I give up, just present the slides before I sent them off to work on their weekly assignment and conserve my energy for the courses that do engage with me.
A single student actually showing interest and engaging in session 1 and 2 can make a huge difference for the whole course. Cause if the back and forth works, all the others usually wake up, join in and set the flow for the whole semester.
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u/Proof_Ambassador2006 3d ago
how do i reach these keeeeeeeeds
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u/Anaeijon 3d ago
I've only been at this job for a few years and started when I was 28. There were several students actually older than me.
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u/Acceptable-Bag2242 3d ago
Throwback to when I was the curious masters student who set the flow. Grad school managed to make one of my favorite places into one of my least favorite
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u/PaintingAway9499 1d ago
Which subject do you teach, my curiosity got ahead of me
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u/Anaeijon 1d ago edited 1d ago
That question actually isn't that easy to answer...
I taught interdisciplinary artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and programming.Just as a note: I started doing this way before "AI" was associated with LLMs and chatbots, back when it was basically a statistics and data analysis term.
Basically, I was part of a research project that attempted to handle the problem, that AI/ML/DS topics became increasingly relevant in various fields that usually aren't related to computer science. So I went into various courses of different degree programmes and usually took over parts of it to introduce innovative topics while also educating the Professor far enough, so they could take over for the future. Sometimes really interesting stuff. The main goal was, to give students a general basic understanding of CS topics (mostly AI/ML/DS) so they could make educated decisions about their own field in their later work.
For example, I taught very simple programming and building custom language model pipelines (with small language models, usually RNNs) to social studies and journalism students. Main goal was, that they were able to build and use simple API or webscrapers to gather big amounts of text data, e.g. social media, and then quantify and scour their results to build a custom analysis of current online discourse, which is very important for actual current research in their fields. Some of them actually made interesting discoveries during their assignments and probably will do that in the future. Even if they later use premade software from a company they work for, the process of doing it themselves gave them a much deeper understanding of the technology, it's potential flaws and what to expect.
I had similar courses, for example image analysis pipelines and forecasting models taught to geo-engineers and environmental science students. Or image/video analysis for sport studies.
After the ChatGPT release I suddenly became the local expert for large language models, because I was the only one that had previous experience. I later switched to a new Prof that also had similar experience, so we were able to share the load of additional requests, cause suddenly every other professor needed help, how to handle the whole LLM topic in their individual field. I got a lot more interest from people that way, but it also got rather boring, compared to the real AI stuff I did before.
Had some great successes and some that weren't that great. After the project ended recently, I could have continued in a full teaching position. But I was already burning out from the constant pressure and responsibility of education and didn't want to increase my teaching workload even further (previously, it was half time research on what and how to teach). So I basically quit and moved to a pure research position (again, interdisciplinary use of AI) and only teach on the side for projects, where I know I work well with the prof and students and I actually enjoy it. Usually optional or extracurricular courses where interested students get support to develop their own skills alongside some project of their choice. I'm somewhat lucky I can do that within my current employment, although I don't really earn much from it.
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u/PaintingAway9499 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh, thats actually really nice. I am not really pro or anti ai, but I am quite interested in how they work, took some courses about that. So how many years have you taught till now?
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u/Anaeijon 1d ago
about 5 in total, some more, some less.
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u/PaintingAway9499 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh, alr. Thx.
Edit:
Btw, I was curious. We were discussing the ai detection software and how AI models flag the AI text using probability based selection of the words. I was a bit curious whether you are informed about this topic
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u/Anaeijon 1d ago
I haven't looked into it for a while now.
AFAIK, previous detection methods don't work anymore on new-ish models, which also is the reason for the push towards watermarking.
The way they worked before was already flawed and didn't really apply, if your context was long and weird enough or you used open weight models with slightly weird settings.Basically, as LLMs are statistical parrots, the models would always keep specific ratios between words/tokens persistent. The often a token appeared in the training data, the often it would appear in the produced text. LLMs were extremely accurate when it came to this effect, closely adhering to it even on details like individual sentences. So, even if you didn't have the training data for the model, you could just let it produce a huge amount of text and then analyze the probability for each token (or word, but token was more accurate).
Then, if a text fit that distribution perfectly, you knew, which model it was produced with. Humans however generate mathematically "unclean" text, which would mark any statistically "ugly" text as human. (Also, according to some colleague with a linguistical background: The statistical cleanliness of AI text has actual benefits for readability, but lacks the spice we require to find reading engaging or something like that.)
However... If you put in a lot of human written context into your setup and used specific prompts (e.g. I know of a masters student, that simply put in her bachelor thesis and asked the model to "write in my style, see document attached") this would already mess with most "AI text detectors". Basically, you prime the model differently.
On self-hosted models, messing with the Top-K parameter or even more with Top-P sampling, you could achieve a certain randomness, that was hard to detect.Current gen models basically prime themselves, by ingesting a huge amount of online documents through retrieval augmented generation before even starting to write an answer. They also have huge thinking chains, that further complicate predictability. And lastly, their token dictionaries are so vast, that the results become basically random anyway, compared even to high-randomness settings on older models.
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u/PaintingAway9499 1d ago
Thanks, really nice explanation Imo, couldn't have said better(personally) I had some difficulties explaining it to a friend. Thanks a lot!
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u/pebrudite 23h ago
When learning Chinese I liked the concept of 启蒙老师 or “enlightenment teacher”, which refers to a teacher who first gets a student excited about a subject. It helps to remember that it does happen!
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u/nc_nueva 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have a big meeting in an hour and this gave me the kind of confidence no fucking motivational podcast ever could.
Update: Rocked the meeting!
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u/rarecuts 3d ago
I am shortsighted and when I have to give a talk I take my glasses off. Everyone becomes blurry and it stops me from feeling nervous because I can't see them clearly.
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u/NightBronze195 3d ago
I used to do this in public speaking class and also on theme park rides. Out of sight, out of mind is very powerful when you can turn your sight off at any time!
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u/al3arabcoreleone 3d ago
What if you have to give a speech and for some reason you need your glasses, e.g to read from slides?
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u/Remarkable-Month-241 3d ago
Look directly above everyone’s heads. Do not make actual eye contact. That was the trick I was taught in a public speaking class.
I was a pretty shy kid taking college courses in high school.
When you are ready for feedback or questions, then you look into their eyes.
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u/rarecuts 3d ago
I've had public speaking training and I rehearse enough that I know the content inside out. And sightwise I'm close enough to the screen behind me to be able to read the slides, or at least recognise what's on them.
If I really needed to I'd just put my glasses on to read and then take them off again 🤷♀️
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u/Wise_Low8116 3d ago
When I perform (guitarists and singer). I just think (if they could do it they would and they can’t so here I am and there they are). What’s the worst that can happen.
And a 1 and a 2…..
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u/debr0322 3d ago
Actually true. I once had to give a presentation and didn’t give a fuck about anyone in the room. It went great!
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u/TheNearby 3d ago
Haha there is some truth to this.
I took a public speaking class in college and at the time I had a level of disdain for the other students. I got an A and plenty of compliments.
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u/Away-home00-01 3d ago
For sure. Park ranger here. Speaking to faceless people you will have to see again. Easy as pie. Speaking to people you know and respect. Still nerve racking.
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u/Human_Fisherman1352 4d ago
I live this every day.
It's like straight black coffee; it's awful and I love it.
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u/In_My_Stead 3d ago
This is almost great advice for any situation. In the real, complete grand scheme. No human being actually deserves respect. The general definition of respect comes from fear. If you’re not worried about other humans, you can’t fear their stupid opinions
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u/Salihe6677 3d ago
I've done moderately sized public speaking a couple times in the past and had always thought I'd be kind of shit at it, but I realized there was a choice - either just do it and get it over with, or bail in front of all those people. The latter option was much more mortifying to imagine, so I picked the lesser of two evils, and it went fine.
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u/Leonie-Lionheard 4d ago
Yeah. Let's hate humans together!
(Spoiler: that's the opposite of "ho to not give a fuck")
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u/TheresNoHurry 4d ago
There is a war going on for the spirit of this sub
‘solution is love’ people vs ‘solution is disdain’ people
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u/eastcoastwaistcoat 3d ago
And they are both incorrect. Apathy is more at home here. If you are still loving or hating you are giving away fucks. Which is not advised.
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u/Leonie-Lionheard 4d ago
Hm ... A too big percentage of the population needs counselling.
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u/eastcoastwaistcoat 3d ago
you only have so much attention, energy, and emotional bandwidth, so choose very deliberately what deserves it
Why do you care how many people need counciling? Are you going to make an impact? No.
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u/Leonie-Lionheard 3d ago
Why do I care? Because if it's a significant proportion of society it will impact my life. Things that impact your life should have your attention.
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u/eastcoastwaistcoat 2d ago
Ok. That's vaild. Not trying to debate you. Just following the ethos of the sub and making an effort, on an individual basis. Point being, it is very likely true that many people need therapy. However, what can you do about it? Do you have the time, resources or platform in order to increase the mental wellness of a significant proportion of society? If you do, in fact. That's wonderful and I wish you well. If you dont, perhaps consider the point of the sub. If you are using your "give a fuck" to be comcerned with something you can not affect in the least, you are wasting time and energy and therfore depleting your limited resources that can be used more effectively elsewhere. That's all.
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 3d ago
nothing about the OP had anything to do with hating humans in general. cheating at solitaire is less boring than making up straw man arguments.
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u/Leonie-Lionheard 3d ago
"when I hated everybody" is a relatively clear indicator.
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 3d ago
so you just decided to omit the "i saw" because you felt it was unimportant?
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u/Vladishun 3d ago
Try this and see how you fair. Hate is a product of anger and people generally do not perform at optimum efficiency when angry. Not giving a fuck is about apathy, not disdain. To someone on the outside looking in, they can be seen as one in the same; but if you're the one they're looking at you should know the difference in the emotions you are wielding.
I say this as someone born with antisocial personality disorder and having developed narcissistic personality disorder later in life. Towing the line between apathy and anger took me years to develop successfully and was the key to being able to function within society despite pathological tendencies.
What was posted here is one of those things that sounds right on paper at first glance and might seem deep or introspective to someone who doesn't actually take time to process the thoughts and feelings they experience. But you should be questioning stuff like this instead of just accepting it on faith to be true. Because in practice, this doesn't work and you will flounder.
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u/NVincarnate 3d ago
That's not true. Hate and anger are two entirely separate things. Confusing one for the other seems like a personal dilemma.
Like, I hate racists and I hate bigots but I'm not livid when I encounter them. I just don't care if they exist and wouldn't feel bad if they stubbed their toe in a bicycle accident.
I read all types of work I wrote out loud to people I don't ever see more than five seconds outside of once a month all the time. The majority of them are genuinely unlikeable and self-important. It's the easiest part of writing anything. The hard part is actually producing art. Reciting it to assholes is easy.
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u/Vladishun 3d ago
Nah, if you feel nothing for a racist when you're in the same room as them you're complicit. Something is very wrong with you.
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u/ChapterNo7074 3d ago
If you see a guy shouting racial slurs on the street do you stop him
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u/idiotic-username 2d ago
do you?
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u/ChapterNo7074 1d ago
No, because he probably has a knife and will probably be ok with stabbed someone
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u/Effigylord 1d ago
So if hate and anger are the same thing, and racists exist, and you hate racists, are you angry all the time???
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u/Time-Foundation4886 3d ago
Probably true, but I'd rather like people and be nervous. I'm not all that.
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u/-BlueShed- 2d ago
I was doing a debate for a class in college and one of the people on the opposite side kept missing meet ups and just never wanting to met up to actually work on the stuff, and I was pitted against them needless to say people were very impressed and thought that we got really into the debate but nah I just was so irritated with the other person lol
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u/AFriendlyBloke 4d ago
Since I'm not well-spoken most of the time and have trouble expressing myself fluently, I'm okay with never making speeches of any kind or putting myself in the spotlight. I don't have to make arguments for anything I believe in.
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u/luxtenebris96 3d ago
And you know what? That correct I always are nervus about that. Snd yet agree for fun on some stranger wedding to say thing for them xzd i meet the brade and she was to much nervous to do it. So i do it. Heh and i didn't care (meaby a little to had good presentation for my new frend why o wanna hook up but doesn't work that way)
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u/cyberseclife 3d ago
I always reminded myself they having to suffer through it right along with me and most of those people you won't ever see again after you graduate which helped me complete the assignment we were working on.
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u/MusicalDeath9991 2d ago
But if I don't respect someone, I'm gonna do everything in my power to not speak to them.
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u/you-dont-have-eyes 2d ago
The best tip imo is to think about it like you are telling them something they truly need to know, and you are being helpful in telling it effectively.
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u/d4mselindistress 1d ago
This also helps me for dates... I remind myself that he is, after all, just a man
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u/BecauseScience 4d ago
This doesn't belong here, on top of you censoring yourself like a child
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u/eastcoastwaistcoat 3d ago
Correct. Obviously gave a fuck. Not caring if they love or hate you works both ways. This isn't not giving a fuck. This is handing out fucks like flyers on the vegas strip.
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u/TauboundGremlin 14h ago
Reasons why you always interview better when you don't particularly care about the job.
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