Using Generative AI for Chess in Education Planning

Introducing GenAI to the Chess in Education Curriculum

The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) in the past year promises profound change and risks in education. As government and educational institutions cautiously work to formulate policy on this rapidly evolving technology, many teachers are experimenting with the new capabilities offered by ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft Bing Chat (and its evolutionary successor Microsoft Copilot), and other content generators. At the same time, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Microsoft, and others are incorporating generative AI for text and images into their mainline products.

Recognizing AI’s potential, Chess in Education – US (CIE-US) added a GenAI segment in its Chess Instructor Level 1 Certification course. The new material included an overview of generative AI, its limitations, and how such tools can aid teachers using educational chess in the classroom. We asked several GenAI tools to create a useful lesson plan related to CIE.

Class Challenge

In preparation for the class, I submitted the following four queries to different content generators. Click on the arrows on the right to see the response of the GenAI tools and editorial critiques of their response.

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The new GenAI segment was first used in a class of teachers on August 3, 2023 in Manchester, NH. After the overview of generative AI, each teacher received a homework assignment: to formulate and submit a query to produce a CIE lesson plan for a class that they teach using a chess-related term or concept, and to apply it to another domain such as science, history, politics, or life skills etc. [For example, two of the above queries use the chess term “outflanking”, but the technique can be used by a teacher for any term that might be a candidate for a word wall.

Class Response

The next day teachers discussed their experiences. Here are the scribe notes from the their discussion.

Did ChatGPT 3.5 answer your questions?

1. Asked for a basic Rook lesson (how does the Rook move) plan lasting 45 minutes
   1. Returned the following sections:
      1. Goals
      2. Assessment
      3. Materials needed
   2. Basically a Teachers-Pay-Teachers style lesson plan
   3. Did what I asked it to do
   4. Looked like a ChessKid explanation
2. Asked for a 6th grade level lesson on chess notation and coordinate grid/graphing
   1. Returned two 45-minute lessons
   2. Would not have been able to “print and use” without massaging the text
3. Asked about piece movement
   1. After repeated requests, ChatGPT began contradicting itself
4. Opening strategy questions
   1. Spit out known information; specificity is important
   2. Referred to a handout that was not available

Take Aways

1. For best results, queries need to be concise, specific and provide context
2. If a user poses a question when they don’t fully understand the concept, they may not see the flaws in the ChatGPT output
3. Format and outlines are great, but can’t be used “right out of the box”
4. Input language is important:
   1. “Connecting” vs “Explaining”
   2. Responses improve when more input is offered
5. ChatGPT cannot play chess because its algorithm is language/text-based whereas computerized chess games are created using a mathematical algorithm
6. Garbage In = Garbage Out
7. Users need to be able to connect the ideas they are asking ChatGPT to comment upon, ie. eclipses and chess
8. It’s a great time-saver
9. Watch out for hallucinations especially with regard to citing sources

Rate ChatGPT/AI (for those who have used it) on a scale of 1 ( not useful at all) to 4 (very useful)

1. 4 – as technology improved, output will be strengthened
2. 2.5 – good if you know what you are talking about and asking it to generate
3. Worries:
   1. It will reinforce problems and untruths
   2. It’s like Wikipedia
   3. Fear associated with new technology (akin to calculators when they were first introduced)
   4. Needs to be seen as a tool
   5. Need to find a way to teach it and teach with it
   6. It’s not going to replace people, but the user can use it to change the validity of information based on input
   7. It’s just another way that kids are exposed to information — they no longer have to memorize facts because the facts are readily available
   8. People need to learn how to pose accurate (and precise) questions
   9. How will it be applied to other parts of life when the user doesn’t just need a catalog of facts?
   10. Teachers are familiar with the common mistakes that kids make when writing papers. A ChatGPT-generated paper will not have the expected grammatical errors
   11. It’s akin to using calculators in HS: kids enter the formula to get an answer but don’t need to understand how the formula works
   12. In the future, the emphasis will need to be on asking questions and evaluation sources; AI can’t determine if a source is good to not
   13. The institution of education must change to accommodate AI

 

Chess in Education – US will continue to follow the evolution of AI in education and its potential for chess in education.