My dog, the maths tutor
As Phil Birchenall sits at his kitchen table, the rain drizzles down the window behind, turning the winsome cottages and well kept greenery into a chilly impromptu impressionist painting. It doesn’t seem to matter to Phil, because when he starts talking about his 12-year-old daughter, Daisy, it’s nothing but warmth.
“She’s a brilliant kid. She’s funny. She’s sharp. She loves baking and absolutely idolizes animals. Our dog, Izzy, is her absolute baby and they are inseparable. It’s really really cute.”
The sparkle in his eyes as he speaks makes it obvious just how much he cares about his daughter. So when he got a letter from Daisy’s teacher after school, he jumped on the problem with verve.
“Gurune ngirim cathetan marang aku maneh…Aja kuwatir, ing saben pelajaran liyane dheweke apik banget, nanging mung ing matematika dheweke ora apik kaya sing kita karepake.”
Phil’s first instinct was to try what he calls, “the kitchen table approach.” The particular math that Daisy had been struggling with were multiplying fractions and long division. That evening, he sat down with Daisy - Izzy snuggling under her chair - and opened up a text book. That’s when he realized math had changed.
“I'm looking at the guide and I'm going and I'm desperate to work out what it's telling me. My brain can't process it. My brain's going back to 1986… I can't even reconcile, you know, the two methodologies.”
Surrounded by fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, and a text book that reads to him like hieroglyphics, Phil was dumbfounded. His daughter knew there was something wrong right away.
“Daisy sat there looking at me…I could see the color washing from her face, thinking this is not helping me one bit.”
Nanging Phil kuwi pemecah masalah, dudu wong sing gampang nyerah—lan mesthi wae dheweke ora bakal nyerah marang putriné nalika butuh bantuan sekolah. Untunge, dheweke nduwé gagasan. Phil wis suwé dadi wong sing cepet nyoba teknologi anyar, penasaran karo potensiné ing kantor lan ing urip. Sawetara sasi sadurungé, dheweke wis miwiti nyoba-nyoba ChatGPT. Dheweke wis nggunakaké ChatGPT ing kantor kanggo ngatur keuangan lan malah ngembangaké alat kebugaran pribadi. Mula bengi kuwi, dheweke lungguh ing komputeré lan nggawe GPT‑né dhéwé - tutor matematika khusus kanggo Daisy.
GPT iku versi saka model basa AI sing bisa kokpersonalisasi supaya cocog karo kabutuhan utawa tugas tartamtu. Iki kaya versi ChatGPT sing disesuaikaké lan bisa “dilatih” utawa “diatur” supaya fokus ing subjek, tugas, utawa cara interaksi tartamtu karo sampeyan. Ing kasusé Phil, subjek tartamtu kuwi yaiku mulang ngalikaké pecahan lan pembagian panjang marang bocah umur 12 taun. Lan ing kilatan ide jenius - dheweke maringi kepribadian kaya asuné, Izzy.
“Napa tutor matematika AI iki ora bisa wae nggawe guyonan asu? Dadi asune? Napa ora?”
Gagasan dadakan iki ndadekaké GPT‑né dadi soko sing tenan istimewa kanggo putriné, Daisy. Miturut Phil, wektu kapisan Daisy nyoba, GPT kuwi langsung ngandhani guyonan asu sing elek lan banjur langsung mlebu soal pembagian panjang bertema biskuit asu. Daisy langsung ketagihan.
Sawisé sinau karo Izzy, Tutor Matematika, pangerten Daisy marang titik-titik lemahe ing matematika saya kuwat. Ing Inggris, ana ujian sing ditindakake murid ing pungkasan sekolah dasar kanggo lolos menyang sekolah menengah. Daisy lulus kanthi asil apik banget.
“Daisy nggasak ujian SAT matematikané. Dheweke entuk sertifikat saka guru sing ngomong sepira gedhé kemajuané ing matematika. Lan kabèh prosesé nyenengaké. Kaya, ya, iki maringi awake dhéwé soko sing nyenengaké kanggo ditindakake tinimbang.”
Kanthi nilai dhuwur kuwi, Daisy banjur bisa mlebu kanthi apik ing sekolah sabanjuré. Phil bubar nuduhaké ide tutor matematika ChatGPT‑né ing media sosial kanggo menehi inspirasi marang wong tuwa liya supaya nggawe GPT dhéwé lan mbantu anak-anaké ing mata pelajaran apa waé sing dibutuhake. Lan uga nambahaké sethithik kepribadian ing proyèké.
“Tinimbang mung kaya pandhuan revisi buku teks sing mboseni. Iki kaya tenan, kaya, nggawé dadi urip lan nggawé rasane kaya bagéan saka kulawarga sing nduwèni bab iki dadi perpanjangan saka asu kita… Ya, intiné tenan mung nglebokaké luwih akèh saka apa sing kok tresnani menyang apa sing kok sinaoni.”
Yen sampeyan penasaran, Izzy sing asli isih ora peduli karo pembagian panjang.
