I want to have my clients read some books and want to offer a small bounty if they do. However, I can't figure out how to check if they actually read it. A synopsis is easily copy-pasta'd. Any question I sent them can be CHATGPT'd right back to me. Quizes, long answer, multiple choice, etc., all seem easily faked.
Even if I had them on Zoom, in real time, they could still use A.I. to answer the question.
Any ideas?
by JourneymanHunt
20 Comments
I bet a genuine conversation about the book would sniff that out pretty well.
Who are your clients?
Clients? That take homework? If it’s therapy how do you tell if they’re putting what you ask into practice.
If you have the questions set beforehand you can put the exact wording into GPT and see if the client’s response matches.
I read every day on my kindle and it tracks how long I’m reading.
I guess you could ask them pointed questions about how they felt/reacted when x thing happened in the books? I don’t know other than asking them to take notes while reading and then sending you those notes there aren’t any ways to really know for sure if someone read a book or the synopsis.
Asking them how they felt during crucial plot points could be one way to gauge it. Other than that you’d just have to trust they read it I guess.
Hard to know without knowing what type of clients and what the purpose is but I would simply ask “what did you think of this book?” And then have a discussion. Does there need to be a punishment or check that they’ve read it? If not then you’ll get honest answers, and you can overcome obstacles for why they don’t read or suggest other books.
You can tell if someone is using AI in real-time because there would be a delay or tell-tale click-clacking on the keyboard.
Just go into one particular scene that you liked and gauge the response. If they’ve read it, they will be able to converse freely and provide details that wouldn’t appear in a synopsis.
Maybe ask subjective questions, rather than objective ones. Something like “What was your favorite part?” or “What chapter did you relate to the most?” or “How did X make you feel?” Basically, a question that connects the book to their emotions/experiences.
“I really thought the analogy about the dinosaur was unexpected, but enlightening.”
Could you develop some of your own questions from reading the book yourself? Then, have an in person chat like a book club would do?
Those that really read vs. the “ Googlers”are pretty easy to spot. At least it was for me as a teacher. 🤣
If you really want to do short answer, you could always run their answers through something like GPTZero or Grammarly.
This is impossible to answer without further information like; who your clients are, what field you’re in, the age range you’re working with, what type of books. If we’re talking teens and YA a fiction a little conversation around what they felt really spoke to them in the book, how they felt a theme from the book related to their own lives, who they’re shipping, what would they want to see in a sequel? If it’s little kids; draw a picture of your favorite event in the book/ favorite character/ yourself in the book, what did you like about the book, what would you change. Adults and nonfiction for supporting therapeutic work; why do you think I suggested this book to you, while reading it did it resonate with you and aid your therapeutic journey and why? For ESL purposes; how did the language and structure of your this book vary from other books you’ve read in your home/native language? Did it make sense to you in English or did it require translation in your head first? If this were a book published in your home/native language what do you think any parts would be structured differently or would anything change?
Ask them about things that didn’t actually get discussed in the book. AI will often still answer – hallucinate.
Have them keep a reading journal. You can structure it however you like, but the essential structure is writing something short as you read. Could be chapter summaries of two or three sentences, or summaries (with dates and times) of whatever they read in a sitting. Could be questions they have about the book, as they come up, thoughts about characters, etc. Any combination of the above. Handwritten, of course. It’s probably harder to fake that than to just do it properly.
As a side note though, rewards can be motivating in the short term, but they decrease motivation in the long term, especially once the reward disappears. If your goal is to get your clients to read one or two specific books that you thing would be helpful, a discount might be motivating. If you are trying to change their behavior over the long term and have them come to enjoy reading on their own, the discount would be counterproductive.
They pay you, you in exchange share your knowledge and instructions and it’s up to them if they actually follow. Stop giving them their money lol. First thing I learned as a teacher of adults, it’s not your responsibility to not waste their money if they decide to be lazy.
If you can figure this out, you’d make millions on the English teacher circuit.
Hmm, from your comments you are a relationship coach. So, your goal is more that they take the lessons and apply them properly, not to ensure they read it, right?
Some people love reading and do well with self help books. Others don’t. Assuming they are paying you, it is your job to make the lessons as accessible as possible. So if I were you, I would present it more like this:
A lot of our therapy and practice will focus on exercises in this book. I highly recommend reading it, and then we can use it as the framework for our sessions. If you are too busy right now, we can still do the exercises, but it will be less effective and take longer for you to get the benefits. It’s up to you how you want to use our sessions, so would you prefer to read a couple chapters before each session, read the whole book before next session, or not read it and I just do the exercises with you? We will get through them in X number of sessions if you read the book, but if not, my clients tend to need about Y number of sessions.
That way they can understand the cost of not reading it. Your problem isn’t AI. Your problem is your clients benefiting from knowledge. If they choose to use AI, that’s their problem and will hold back their progress significantly. But if they prefer to waste their money, that’s on them.
No. Not without implying they’re lying little liars who can’t be trusted. I mean sure you do actually think that, but.
When I was growing up, my mom used to grab the book open it on random pages and ask me questions about the characters or the plot.
I was never able to fool her so I read a lot
Hope it helps
Ask them to name three page numbers. Gets em every time.