I'd love to read more about LLM use cases in eduction like this:

In both cases, I was blown away by student engagement and creativity. Here’s a brief list of what some of my students did in their medieval simulations:

• ran away from home to become an apprentice to a traveling spice merchant

• developed various treatments for the plague, some historically accurate (like theriac) others much less so (like vaccines)

• negotiated complex legal settlements between the warring guilds of Pistoia

• fled to the forest and became an itinerant hermit

• attempt to purchase “dragons blood,” a genuine medieval and early modern remedy, to cure their fast-worsening plague

• made heroic efforts as an Italian physician named Guilbert to stop the spread of plague with perfume

• became leaders of both successful and unsuccessful peasant revolts

This is from Benjamin Breen. I'm incredibly bullish around the potential for LLMs to transform education. The conversation around LLMs in education needs to move beyond the hysteria around students using LLMs for cheating. The opportunity to leverage LLMs to create engaging and immersive learning experiences is huge.

I don't see LLMs as a technology that will disappear. Knowing how to interact with LLMs is a hugely marketable skill. Incorporating LLMs in the classroom has the potential to not just create engaging learning experiences, but also teaches students a skill they can use outside the classroom.

Finally, LLMs can make learning more engaging. Students are in a constant battle for their attention at all times. Lectures too often are boring and make it easy for students to put an AirPod under their hoodie and tune out. LLMs can make learning more interactive and boost engagement.

Student engagement in the spring quarter, when I began these trials, was unlike anything I’ve seen. The first time I tested the idea out informally (asking students to simulate their home town via an up-ended general purpose simulation prompt) I realized that we had gone 5 minutes past the end of class without anyone noticing!

Really exciting! During my upcoming paternity leave I'm looking forward to spend some time playing with some of these prompts.