Despite all the discussion, I suspect that the impact on some issues of ChatGPT and other similar generative ai tools has been minimal. But for me, as a college writing professor, these ai tools have had a big impact on my daily work, and not a positive one. I regularly deal with work generated by ai and presented in my class. and, like a character in a Philip K. Dick novel, I regularly have the disturbing experience of suspecting that human-generated writing was actually written by a machine.
I still share the belief of enthusiasts that there is potential to use ai in education, from one-on-one tutoring to research and teaching assistance, and I agree that banning it is not the answer. But I do believe that more needs to be done to protect the integrity of human-generated writing in schools and that the conversation about ai should always address this.
As we continue to discover how generative ai fits into our curricula and the world at large, here are some things I wish ai supporters would consider and address in their talks and writings on the topic.
<h2 id="1-students-are-using-ai-to-submit-papers-for-almost-every-written-assignment-xa0″>1. Students use ai to submit work for almost all written assignments
The problems posed by ai are here, they are real, and they happen in classrooms every day. TO Recent survey of college students and their use of ai. found that 96% of students use ChatGPT for schoolwork, 69% use it to help with writing, and 29% use it to generate completed work.
Using ai to help study and organize is great, using it to generate entire articles not so much. In my undergraduate classes, I have noticed that the rate of ai submissions is trending upward. In a class of 20 students, I now expect to see at least three ai-generated papers per assignment.
<h2 id="2-reading-ai-papers-is-demoralizing-xa0″>2. Reading articles about ai is demoralizing
Until it happens to you, it may be difficult to fully understand how disturbing and demoralizing it is to encounter ai-generated work in your classes. When you suspect that a paper is ai-generated but can't prove it, you should spend time grading inauthentic papers and pretend that this feedback is important to the student.
ai submissions can also infect an entire batch of items, making one unfairly wonder about those that were actually generated by humans. It's a new kind of stress that simply wasn't part of the job a year ago.
<h2 id="3-preventing-students-from-submitting-ai-papers-is-hard”>3. It is difficult to prevent students from submitting ai papers
I have written about how instructors can rework their write prompts to be as ai resistant as possible. However, doing this requires additional time and places a burden on individual instructors. And at best, even ai-resistant prompts only limit the number of ai-generated submitted articles.
To suggest that the problem with ai articles is exaggerated or requires only minor adjustments to the guidance is to underestimate the scope of the problem and mislead those of us who deal with it on a regular basis. Schools and universities must stop leaving this challenge in the hands of individual teachers, and we need stronger institutional responses overall to the problem of ai writing. Those who dismiss concerns should remember this.
4. Writing is not a monotonous task
when I interviewed Anurag Acharya, one of the founders of Google Scholar, told me that it made sense to use a Google Scholar function or a similar tool to generate citations. Essentially (in my words, not theirs), students had better ways to use their time than searching for archaic rules that a computer could generate instantly.
I agree as far as the quotes go, however I strongly disagree with those who suggest the same applies to the writing itself. Writing is not always fun, but it is rarely a monotonous task. It is an ancient practice that has been inherently linked to the way we interact and understand the world for thousands of years.
5. Writing is linked to cognition
Others are more qualified to speak of The link between human cognition and writing.but I know that writing about the world helps me understand it. And that when I consider a topic, a question, or an argument and take the time to solidify my thoughts on paper, I understand that topic better and more deeply.
I know that writing is not so easy for everyone and everyone processes the world differently, except that our students deserve the opportunity to develop this skill that can serve them in many ways beyond the scope of what appears to be a brief writing assignment. .
In other words, this conversation about ai and writing isn't about writing at all, it's about thinking and making sure we continue to facilitate the kind of thinking that supports writing.
