[BlindMath] Experiment.

[Michael Whapples]

One thing to be careful of, if education and actually understanding is 
the goal make sure the stuff produced as an alternative does not 
actually do the work of interpreting and understanding for you.


To give an example I had some time ago. Whilst doing my post graduate 
diploma in computing, I remember a test question on a design diagram 
(may have been UML, may have been some other for database design). The 
question asked what was the relationship between two elements of the 
system. The diagram descriptions I had been provided as a blind person 
contained statements like "There is a one to many relationship 
between..." essentially providing the answer without me needing to do 
interpretation. This was before AI was being rammed into everything, so 
I expect these descriptions were human generated. However the point 
still is relevant, the descriptions had been generated without regard to 
the context of what I was meant to be learning and what was to be 
tested. AI is particularly bad at picking up on wider context unless it 
is explicitly pointed out.


Michael Whapples

On 13/06/2026 00:03, Ray McAllister via BlindMath wrote:
> Okay, here's an experiment I'd like to do.  I'd like to take a subject in
> higher math that really there isn't an easy text book in accessible format
> for online.  I believe analytic geometry might be an example.  Then, see if
> I can get Chat GPT or some chat bot to write a course in that field for me.
> I already know that Chat GPT does a very good job with Pretext Mathjax work,
> and, I can explain that I'm blind, and I get a diagram-free, well-described
> situation.  I would be good for this task since I'm studying higher math,
> simply for fun, so there's no risk.  If it doesn't work, I'm not in danger
> of failing a class or something.
>
> What I would do, as I have contacts in a local university's math department:
> I'd probably get a copy of their syllabus for the class, and, maybe a review
> sheet for the exams, and then submit those to Chat GPT.  Then, we'd do
> lesson by lesson, and I already have experience with this with Chat GPT.  I
> had it develop a short lesson, with worked examples, on Ferrari's Quartic
> Equations method, and I was able to understand it well enough to code a
> computer program to solve quartic equations that way.  I do catch mistakes
> now and then, and that's part of the process.  But my end result would be to
> see if I could do this, and then take a real exam, and see how I'd do.
>
> Now, if this actually can prove successful, I'm not sure where to go.
> Obviously, one couldn't just completely replace a course's text books with
> AI, for the blind, but there is the idea that universities and colleges do
> have "independent study" options, and if there are a couple subjects that
> just aren't workable there, maybe a blind person could do this for
> independent study credit as a work-around.  Sometimes the experiment comes
> before the complete vision of how to make it practical.
>
>   
>
> What do you think of such an experiment?  There's no cost, no risk.  That I
> know.
>
>   
>
> I've also done well having Chat GPT describe mathematical diagrams for me,
> so I think I could do this.
>
>   
>
> I wonder what subjects would be best.  I'm thinking Analytical Geometry,
> though a real challenge might be topology.
>
>   
>
> Anyway, just throwing this out for thought.  I'm currently doing Abstract
> Algebra and Complex Analysis online, and I often have to get tutoring with
> Chat GPT on abstract algebra, but I am understanding it.
>
>   
>
> But it will be a few months before I finish one of the books and set up to
> start something new.
>
>   
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray.
>
>   
>
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