Virtual Workshop for Educators, Hallucinations in the Machine: AI and Primary Source Analysis in Women’s History Education

The rise of ChatGPT means the rise of AI-generated student work. Educators are contending with the challenges of using these tools in the classroom, including the use of AI to create historical analysis and share factual information. However, experts have documented that large language models, including ChatGPT, are not very good at providing accurate information. These AI-tools will, in industry terms, “hallucinate”—also known as make up themselves—facts, figures, and citations to provide the user with an answer that seems accurate but may very well be fake or inaccurate. These “hallucinations” add yet another challenge to teaching vetted history, in particular women’s history which already suffers from a lack of primary documentation. Rather than seeing AI-generated work as a problem, students and educators can use AI-generated work as a learning tool itself, specifically as a tool to learn better research and analytical skills. 

Using the University and Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) strategies, this 1-hour virtual workshop will model classroom activities that facilitate student inquiry and fact-checking practices for an AI-generated student work on a topic in US women’s history. This workshop will also provide a list of verified resources that teachers can use with students to further practice vetted and verified research and analysis skills. This workshop will be co-facilitated by NWHM museum educators and Dr. Katherine Perrotta, Assistant Professor of Middle Grades and Secondary Education at Mercer University Tift College of Education. 

This session is free but advanced registration is required. Those who attend will receive a certificate of completion. 

Please note: The National Women’s History Museum strives to provide programs that are accessible to all visitors. For questions, or to request accommodations such as an ASL interpreter or closed captioning, please email [email protected] at least 7 days in advance of the program. 

This workshop is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University.