What does Jimmy, the eternal loser, know! Apparently I made three mistakes and two serious mistakes. So what? Finally, I checked him out again. That’s what matters! I have already played 197 games of chess against Jimmy and won all of them. I! And although I don’t know any chess, at least not really. I’m learning it right now – with the help of adaptive learning software.
Such learning software will also be tested in German schools for the first time this school year: Brainix teaches in Bavaria, Area9 Rhapsode in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – in all core subjects. If the affected students are just a bit like me, then wonderful times are ahead of them. They will soon feel like the best students ever. Because my Jimmy – that’s great – always plays a little bit worse than me. In addition, no superior mind will witness my failure, my bumbling attempts. I’m never afraid that Jimmy might think I’m stupid if I don’t understand something.
No, I always know: I’m definitely smarter than Jimmy. I am good. I am very good. I’m fantastic. Jimmy keeps confirming that to me. I think he admires me. And rightly so, I think. Because more and more of my moves are just “great”, as Jimmy says. That’s why I sometimes think he’s a bit stupid.
I would not think so of a human chess teacher. On the contrary: I would rather consider myself stupid. I would be impressed by the teacher because he can do much better chess than me. I would be afraid that he would think: They just don’t get it! Dreadful! Fortunately, stupid Jimmy is the other way around.
I’ve become so great now that I want to play against real people once in a while. Problem: Real opponents easily overreact if you want to take back your previous move because you noticed that it was nothing. They don’t give you at least three trustworthy tips per game and they don’t want to know anything about adaptive gaming.
I am currently trying to simulate these inhuman conditions against Jimmy. As always, I proceed with relish, nimbly preferring the horse. I like the horses – the way they hop around. I don’t have to think long. Would be too strenuous too. What do I have Jimmy for?
“Mistake!” He shouts now, or rather he writes in red. Again ?! He’s wrong! I’ve thought that way several times, but in the end he was right. On the other hand: If I make mistakes, he also makes some to compensate – so it doesn’t matter anyway. I withdraw, stare at the board, perplexed. What now? Apparently I was very convinced of my mistake. Note, please! Ah, of course, prefer the boring farmer. The idea could have been mine. Learning is fun this way. And bang – won again.
Only: How do I learn now without gaining adaptive support? Jimmy urgently needs an update: Every time I make a mistake or a mistake and don’t withdraw it, I could be applauded. Bravo, well done! You stand by your mistakes. And at the end I get so-called hero points. With these I could possibly even cope with a defeat. As a hero of defeat. Any real chess partners would of course have to be briefed.
For the teachers of the adaptive software test classes, I sincerely hope that such updates have already been fed into Brainix and Area9 Rhapsode.
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