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Using AI in an Advanced Level Course

French through Current Events

SAMUEL SKIPPON

French Department

Columbia University

I’m going to do �my homework �at my friend’s house

Which friend ?

Le Monde, February 2023

NYU October 2024

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Materials:

Summary of an article: this is where AI is (or shouldn’t be?) used

Types of articles :

- Event reporting� - Investigation� - Opinion piece

Sources : articles are essentially chosen from 3 daily French newspapers:�Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro� …although other sources in French may be used as well. The sources may have very different political/ideological perspectives.

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ACTIVITY LAYOUT (each student chooses a different article) : PRESS REVIEW (6 items)

FOR MY EYES ONLY:

  • Summary of your article in 180 to 200 words in your own words.
  • Choose 3 to 5 words or expressions that are new to you or that are used in a way that is new to you.
  • Write a sentence, not taken from the article, for each word or expression that demonstrates that you understood and know how to use said words or expressions.

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FOR THE CLASS ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD (CANVAS):

  • Give you article a title different from the original title
  • Write 3 to 4 sentences that give the gist of the article.
  • Formulate 3 discussion questions. These questions are linked to the main themes of your article but must not refer explicity to the article. They should be general enough so as to allow all students to engage in the discussion even if they are not familiar with the details in the article.

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ISSUES WITH AI PRODUCED SUMMARIES

Article’s main event/theme:

The resignation of the state minister of the environment, Nicolas Hulot (2018)

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The Citizen’s Convention on Climate (2020)

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The purpose of moving the retirement age in France from 62 to 64? (2023)

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President Macron’s position on Ukraine (2023)

AI left out or minimized:

- the contradiction between an economy based on economic growth and the necessity of an ecological transition

- the fact that 3 important recommendations formulated by the convention were left out (tax on dividends, speed limit on highways, inclusion of the protection of the environment in the preamble to the Constitution)

- the numerous uses of article 49.3 of the Constitution, allowing the government to avoid the vote at the National Assembly�

- President Macron’s extraordinary reception for Putin at Versailles in 2017

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Stages:

  • AI first appeared as a topic in current events.
  • AI was then used by some students to write their summary.
  • The use of AI underlined problems in terms of what was left out or minimized in an article.
  • AI was reintroduced in the course as the starting point of a discussion : how AI can lead to a type of « fake news ». Is there intention or not?
  • Possible remedies : students use AI for their summaries, but return to their summaries to add relevant content or give more detail to certain themes that were left out by AI.

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AI Policies or Poly-Cs ?�Conceive, Collaborate, Concur

  • Conceive: with the students, elaborate guidelines as to how AI should be used for this specific course.
  • Collaborate: look at AI as a collaborative tool. AI is a means towards the target language, not an end in itself.
  • Concur : have students discuss the strengths and weaknesses of AI as it relates to the course’s contents and education in general.