News Modder hacks ChatGPT, other apps onto TI-84 calculator, creates 'The Ultimate Cheating Device

[Admin]

ChatGPT gets modded into a TI-84 calculator, creating a YouTuber's "ultimate cheating device".

Modder hacks ChatGPT, other apps onto TI-84 calculator, creates 'The Ultimate Cheating Device : Read more

 

[bit_user]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

 

[USAFRet]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

Battery power.

Same reason my Kindle needs recharge twice a month, vs the phone, once a day.

 

[bit_user]

Battery power.

Perhaps your concerned about color LCDs needing a backlight? Okay, but I'm not convinced they could've have gone to a higher-res display, like 320x240.

Same reason my Kindle needs recharge twice a month, vs the phone, once a day.

Modern e-Ink display tech would be great for graphing calculators. Traditionally, the display technology has perhaps been too sluggish for that sort of interactive use, but I think more recent versions of the tech can refresh a few times per second.

BTW, it's quite misleading to compare these with your smart phone. They differ in much more significant ways than just the display. Also, I wasn't imagining a huge, whole-device, 1440p-class screen like they have. Just upgrading the 100x60 res mono display to something that can comfortably fit more text and better-resolution graphs.

 

[USAFRet]

Perhaps your concerned about color LCDs needing a backlight? Okay, but I'm not convinced they could've have gone to a higher-res display, like 320x240.


Modern e-Ink display tech would be great for graphing calculators. Traditionally, the display technology has perhaps been too sluggish for that sort of interactive use, but I think more recent versions of the tech can refresh a few times per second.

BTW, it's quite misleading to compare these with your smart phone. They differ in much more significant ways than just the display. Also, I wasn't imagining a huge, whole-device, 1440p-class screen like they have. Just upgrading the 100x60 res mono display to something that can comfortably fit more text and better-resolution graphs.

Could this functionality be built into something better than the Ti-84?
Color e-ink, etc.
Almost certainly, yes.

But then it wouldn't be a Ti-84.

Almost certainly someone else will build this into a more modern small platform.

 

[TCA_ChinChin]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

There are models with color digital screens. I remember using both the standard Ti-84s with monochrome ones have digital screens with color. I think one thing that was a drawback was that the models with color screens took longer to render due to using the same processor but having a significantly more demanding display. It was a pretty small but consistent delay compared to the monochrome ones. Also remember using TI-inspires that had more functionality, a better digital display, and overall better. This was all like a decade ago so I imagine color Ti calculators are more prevalent now, but I imagine that the basic models are used just cause they're cheap and they still work fine.

 

[jg.millirem]

Another engineering project with no social good. It helps kids cheat on tests, just great.

 

[bit_user]

I think one thing that was a drawback was that the models with color screens took longer to render due to using the same processor but having a significantly more demanding display. It was a pretty small but consistent delay compared to the monochrome ones.

Was that new enough that it featured internet access, as the one in the article reportedly does? That's specifically what I'm talking about. If you go back far enough, clearly there was a point when color wouldn't have been very feasible or without significant tradeoffs.

 

[wakuwaku]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

I can't believe people nowadays despite being on the internet regularly still being ignorant of the world.

https://education.ti.com/en/products/calculators/graphing-calculators/ti-84-plus-ce-python

Also are YOU going to fund the entire worlds education by sponsoring calculators? Color screens is one thing, but e-ink? How about using your brains a little instead of relying on computers. The main issue with e-ink, besides its price, is the fact it burns in and requires the screen to flash at regular intervals to prevent that. A calculator will need a more power hungry and more expensive display driver and/or soc to do more unnecessary non calculator functions. Not to mention the regular flickering will be downright annoying in an exam or research environment with high amounts of concentration.

Why don't you prove that a regular calculator can indeed benefit from the advantages of an e-ink to the point where its drawbacks can be ignored?

 

[Medic329]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

The CE version, which a lot of better funded schools use, has a rechargable battery, more programmability and a multicolor, higher res screen, for a higher price, of course. There's also the inspire, which is pretty much a computer, and plenty of alternative knockoffs that can do similar.

The Ti-84+ is just an old standard that you know is accepted anywhere and has a lot of guides on how to use. It's by no means good, or good value. But it's common. And it still exists off that alone.

 

[bit_user]

I can't believe people nowadays despite being on the internet regularly still being ignorant of the world.

I was commenting on the unit pictured in the article, which was new enough to be internet-enabled.

I didn't think there were no graphing calculators with higher res or color screens. I was just apalled by low res of the one use for the hack.

Also are YOU going to fund the entire worlds education by sponsoring calculators?

We live in a world of sub-$100 tablets that have high-res touch color screens, wifi, and a multi-core processor with probably a couple gigs of RAM and 32 GB flash.

Contrast that with the time I was in highschool, when I paid $200 for a graphing calculator. Adjusting for inflation, it's over $400 now.

Face it: modestly high-res (again, I'm only talking like 320x240) color displays are commodity components for a while, as is the processing power needed to drive them. My graphing calculator had a 2 MHz single-bit (oops, seems it had an 8-bit datapath and 20-bit data registers) microcontroller with 128 kiB of memory (the cheap version had only 32 kiB), which acted both as RAM and storage. It wasn't fast, but it was usable.

The main issue with e-ink, besides its price, is the fact it burns in and requires the screen to flash at regular intervals to prevent that.

I got an e-ink reader 6-7 years ago. I haven't noticed the flashing you're talking about. It does have two page-flipping modes, one of which is higher-quality but takes longer.

Anyway, disregard the point about e-ink. It was just a side-comment. I'm not very knowledgeable about it, especially concerning more recent developments in the technology. My main point was really just that the pictured calculator was still using such a horrendously low-res mono display. Even if you stick with mono, they could at least have used a better resolution.

P.S. RPN rulez! TI is for suckaz!
; )

 

[nightbird321]

inferior and overpriced tech locked to schools and students because of backdoor deals with a company, what a wonderful world

 

[M0rtis]

A MIP display could be a nice upgrade

 

[HexagonSun]

It's funny cause Chat-GPT and other LLMs can't actually count.

 

[vanadiel007]

It's funny cause Chat-GPT and other LLMs can't actually count.

Neither can students when using a calculator.

 

[newtechldtech]

cheat or not , AI destroyed the education system already beyond repair. My sister a 30 years experience in teaching mathematics at high schools cant find a problem to give her students for homework anymore , and the whole home work system collapsed at school as a method to test students and give them the right grade. Final Exams alone cant give you an accurate picture of a student knowledge ... Homeworks did .. now all home works ALL are solvable using AI.

 

[TCA_ChinChin]

Was that new enough that it featured internet access, as the one in the article reportedly does? That's specifically what I'm talking about. If you go back far enough, clearly there was a point when color wouldn't have been very feasible or without significant tradeoffs.

No it was still a Ti-84 type calculator, just an updated model. It was just an updated screen with some minor improvements. The core processor and functionality was identical. I thought you were talking about just the screen since your first comment said "Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors". The one in the article is about a hardware modded TI-84, which I think is on another level compared to the official models offered by TI themselves, even the super high end ones.

My point is that TI did and probably still use those color screen models with the same old processor they put in the original. My point is that at least for the TI-84, the color screen ones don't provide much extra over the monochrome ones, especially for what they were actually used for.

 

[g-unit1111]

I can't believe graphing calculators are still using that monochrome, low-res display. Even for just its core functions, a lot is gained by having higher-res and colors.

TI does make graphing calculators with full color and Wifi capabilities that can run apps. I owned one, and I asked my calculus teacher about it, but he said that current academic standards ban those calculators from being used because they can be programmed to cheat. They like the old standard TI-84 because of the fact that it's low tech. Yeah it can be programmed to cheat, but it's a lot more difficult on the TI-84 than on a calculator that has more functions. He said on the homework it doesn't matter what device you use as long as you show all of your work as to how you got the answer. But on the test they don't want any device that you could use to cheat.

 

[bit_user]

the whole home work system collapsed at school as a method to test students and give them the right grade. Final Exams alone cant give you an accurate picture of a student knowledge ... Homeworks did

Um... what? When I was in high school, I liked to work ahead and would ask my math teacher for the assignments in advance. Sometimes it backfired, if they decided to change the assignment on the day it was officially assigned, but I didn't mind the extra work as much as I liked the challenge of trying to figure out the material on my own.

That aside, homework shouldn't be the dominant contributor to a student's grade. Homework is there to pace their learning and provide an early warning sign, if they're failing to adequately understand the material. Tests are the way you ultimately see what they know, because tests are administered under controlled conditions. Homework has always been subject to cheating - either having another kid or an older sibling or parent help you with it, or just coping off of someone who's already done the assignment.

Also, final exams shouldn't be the only form of testing that counts. There should be chapter tests and pop quizzes, along the way.

As for what's wrong with education? I wonder if the biggest problem isn't kids being too addicted to social media, tik tok, and video games. That stuff is like drugs. It reduces your interest in doing anything else. They know they can't use ChatGPT on their tests and exams, so it should be clear to them that cheating on their homework is self-defeating. If they do it anyway, you should take a deeper look at why they're the behaving in an illogical fashion.

 

[bit_user]

The one in the article is about a hardware modded TI-84,

Sorry, I missed the part about the hardware mods. The sentence about internet access was just talking about a software mod, but it's mentioned in the context of hardware mods that I missed.

My point is that TI did and probably still use those color screen models with the same old processor they put in the original.

That's unfortunate. I'm reading it used a Z80 (a popular clone of the 8-bit Intel 8080) at 15 MHz. The screen resolution was reportedly 320x240 (which exactly what I had suggested). Somewhat weirdly, they opted for 16-bit color, rather than an 8-bit indexed mode. I guess that does seem like a bit of a lift.

 

[bit_user]

on the test they don't want any device that you could use to cheat.

I used my dad's slide rule on tests, when my graphing calculator was forbidden. Virtually none of the other kids knew what it was, but I got knowing glances from teachers who saw it hanging from my belt.

​

BTW, even a few non-graphing calculators could be programmed. My dad had an HP 16C that could hold programs of up to 203 steps.

​

Oh, another fun thing about the HP-48 series is they had a bi-directional IR communication capability. IIRC, they needed to be fairly close together and pointed directly at each other, but could conceivably be used to exchange information during an exam. I also seem to recall something about an instructor version that could broadcast to all the students, but not sure if that's true.

 

[newtechldtech]

Um... what? When I was in high school, I liked to work ahead and would ask my math teacher for the assignments in advance. Sometimes it backfired, if they decided to change the assignment on the day it was officially assigned, but I didn't mind the extra work as much as I liked the challenge of trying to figure out the material on my own.

That aside, homework shouldn't be the dominant contributor to a student's grade. Homework is there to pace their learning and provide an early warning sign, if they're failing to adequately understand the material. Tests are the way you ultimately see what they know, because tests are administered under controlled conditions. Homework has always been subject to cheating - either having another kid or an older sibling or parent help you with it, or just coping off of someone who's already done the assignment.

Also, final exams shouldn't be the only form of testing that counts. There should be chapter tests and pop quizzes, along the way.

As for what's wrong with education? I wonder if the biggest problem isn't kids being too addicted to social media, tik tok, and video games. That stuff is like drugs. It reduces your interest in doing anything else. They know they can't use ChatGPT on their tests and exams, so it should be clear to them that cheating on their homework is self-defeating. If they do it anyway, you should take a deeper look at why they're the behaving in an illogical fashion.

true Homework has always been subject to cheating , but now it is 1000 times easier ... especially Long homework ... not two lines answer homeworks.

AI will have very bad impact on student brain the same like the calculators did to most, but on EVERY LEVEL of knowledge not only dividing and multiplying ... I have friends who cant do simple calculations out of being used to calculators ... now multiply this by 1000 when using AI .

 

[g-unit1111]

BTW, even a few non-graphing calculators could be programmed. My dad had an HP 16C that could hold programs of up to 203 steps.

​

​

Oh, another fun thing about the HP-48 series is they had a bi-directional IR communication capability. IIRC, they needed to be fairly close together and pointed directly at each other, but could conceivably be used to exchange information during an exam. I also seem to recall something about an instructor version that could broadcast to all the students, but not sure if that's true.

I've definitely used the 16C and am very familiar with it. Can't say the same about the slide rule, though I'm sure my dad still has his.

 

[bit_user]

AI will have very bad impact on student brain the same like the calculators did to most, but on EVERY LEVEL of knowledge not only dividing and multiplying ... I have friends who cant do simple calculations out of being used to calculators ... now multiply this by 1000 when using AI .

I learned to use calculators before I learned long division. I can't remember the last time I did full long division, but I do use some simple tricks to do approximate division in my head.

For a long time, I continued to pay with cash as partly a way to keep myself doing mental arithmetic. I'd pay in whatever amount gave me the coins in change.

The brain is like a muscle. Use it or lose it. If you really want to give it a workout, try learning a new language.