If you’re a Harvard student signed up to take an introductory coding course this fall, an AI chatbot might be one of your instructors. 

Beginning in the fall semester, one of Harvard University’s flagship coding courses, CS50: Introduction to Computer Science, will implement artificial intelligence in the instruction of its students, The Harvard Crimson reported. The chatbot will assist students, but a professor will still be the main instructor in the course.

“Our own hope is that, through AI, we can eventually approximate a 1:1 teacher:student ratio for every student in CS50, as by providing them with software-based tools that, 24/7, can support their learning at a pace and in a style that works best for them individually,” Professor David Malan, who instructs CS50, told the newspaper.

The AI chatbot will answer questions, assist in finding bugs in students’ code, and explain coding error messages, Malan told the paper. The chatbot will be “similar in spirit” to ChatGPT and help both professors and students, the New York Post reports. Instead of simply handing the answer to students, Malan insists the tech will be “leading students toward an answer” and won’t give “outright solutions.” 

The answers the chatbot gives students can also be reviewed by human course staff, the newspaper says. This feature is in its beta testing stage during the summer course. 

Malan conceded that artificial intelligence does make cheating easier and more anonymous for students, but says that using technology to cheat is nothing new. “Better, then, to weave all the more emphasis on ethics into a course so that students learn, through guidance, how to navigate these new waters,” Malan said. 

The course has always implemented software, Malan says, but the addition of artificial intelligence is an “evolution of that tradition.” Not everyone thinks this evolution is a good thing, though. Martin Rand, co-founder and CEO of software company PactumAI, warned of the downsides of the new development at Harvard. 

“I would say the dangers are that we have to consider that these are statistical models. These will come up with most probable answers and high probability can also mean mediocrity,” Rand told Fox in an interview. “So professors need to be there to provide exceptionalism, and I think Harvard has taken the right approach in providing this only to introductory courses.”

Malan said he doesn’t expect the chatbot to be without issues in the fall semester, telling the Crimson that it will “underperform or even err.” 

“We’ll make clear to students that they should always think critically when taking in information as input, be it from humans or software,” Malan said, adding that the technology will continue to improve with student and faculty feedback.

Roughly 36 hours after an early Sunday morning shooting at a Baltimore block party killed two people and injured 28 others, authorities shared new details about the deadly incident as the search for suspects continues.

During a press conference on Monday, officials implored people to come forward if they have any relevant information about the mass shooting in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood and announced a variety of support programs for members of the community in Maryland.

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the horrific violence that occurred this weekend is not repeated either in Brooklyn or in any other neighborhood across Baltimore,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat.

Acting Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley said detectives were interviewing witnesses and reviewing video footage from the “Brooklyn Day” celebration that officials estimated to have hundreds of people.

Worley said investigators recovered multiple weapons and casings at the scene. The police chief said anyone who had weapons at the block party, including a young man allegedly seen in social media video footage pulling a semi-automatic gun out of a backpack, is considered a suspect until if and when authorities determine otherwise.

“Right now, our detectives are still working through interviewing every one of the victims,” Worley said. “We will continue to pursue any leads so that’s why we need the help from the community because we have only touched some of the video that’s out there. Everyone had had their cameras working and had their phones working and there’s much more video out there that we have to look at.”

As of press time, officials have not released a motive nor any identifying information about suspects, but Worley said his department will be making releases to help investigators identify individuals they are seeking to interview.

As seen in a “Metro Crime Stoppers” poster issued on Monday, an award of up to $28,000 was being offered with the assistance of the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for information leading up to arrests and charges.

Homicide detectives need your help in locating those responsible for the death of 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi and 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup.
Metro Crime Stoppers Of Maryland pic.twitter.com/sP952ABW0V

— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) July 3, 2023

The poster also showed photos of the two victims who were killed in the shooting that took place at approximately 12:32 a.m. on Sunday. They have been identified as 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi and 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez.

Among the 28 victims who were wounded, 15 were between the ages of 13 and 17, according to Worley. He said the 13 other injured victims were between the ages of 18 and 32.

Seven victims remain in a hospital and four of them are in critical condition, Scott said during the Monday press conference.

Stefanie Mavronis, interim director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), said she had information indicating some members of her staff deescalated three to four conflicts at the scene earlier in the evening, but she said they were not present at the time of the shooting.

Worley faced multiple questions about why officers were not on the scene at the scene of such a large event. Worley said the event lacked a permit and police did not know it was taking place until hours before the shooting.

The police chief denied that staffing was an issue, insisting that officers could have been moved to that location, and he noted that a review is underway to determine any shortcomings in the response.

Pressed on whether there was poor communication among city officials, Scott said “We are going to investigate every breakdown … but what we are not going to do is stand up here and try to make this about some organization’s decisions, or what they did, or what they did not do.”

The mayor also characterized gun violence across the United States as a “public health challenge” that demands the public’s focus with “the same vigor” that the COVID pandemic received while bemoaning gun trafficking across state lines, “ghost guns,” and a lack of smart technology on firearms.