The Crisis of Faith in Academia and Writing
I was grading assignments for an undergraduate course in memoir writing when I experienced a severe crisis of faith regarding the future — of academia, of writing, of thinking. I’d asked my students to write about an obsession, telling their life story through the lens of a pop-culture fixation. This assignment invariably produces a few surprising, insightful, and energetic pieces from students who’ve never been asked to take their own interests seriously before. This time, however, I received a 2,000-word submission defining "obsession," citing the D.S.M.-5 and multiple online sources, all written in the trademark flat, lifeless prose of ChatGPT.
The Scourge of AI-Assisted Cheating
Earlier this month, OpenAI revealed a new version in training mode that, at least according to the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman, is "good at creative writing." It’s not clear when this new version might be released, but as a longtime instructor of freshman composition, I’m already well aware of the scourge of artificial-intelligence-assisted cheating going on in writing classes of all sorts. I can even sympathize, to an extent. Students get overwhelmed, they panic, and resort to the plagiarism machine. These same students have been inundated with AI boosterism, and have no doubt encountered overly credulous news reports full of misleading claims about how miraculous AI tools can be.
The Dangers of Outsourcing Creativity
But a creative writing student using AI? In a memoir writing class? I have to wonder what you are saying about your life if even you can’t be bothered to think about it. As someone who has written two memoirs, I know the challenges and pleasures of this work, and I want my students to experience those challenges, too. The act of writing a memoir is not just about saying "Look at me," but rather about enabling yourself and defining who you are, in part by revisiting particularly fraught experiences, analyzing them from all angles, and complicating them in the retelling. This process is — and I don’t say this lightly — an act that makes the author more fully alive.
The Demoralizing Effect of AI on Humanity
To farm out this task, of all tasks, to a machine is deeply disheartening. What’s more, to farm it out to a machine that trawls the internet and cobbles together a fake version of you is not just academic dishonesty, it’s a broader degradation of our memories and our humanity. It’s demoralizing to think about talented young people outsourcing not only their creative labor but their life stories to a computer.
The Crisis of Culture
Yet it’s not the students who concern me most. The temptation to use AI as a shortcut is a symptom of a culture that has so devalued both writing and reading that it seems to some of my students like a rational choice to opt out of both.
Conclusion
As I continue to teach, I will do so with the conviction that the act of writing itself can be an act of self-preservation, even one of defiance. That spark of rebellion is our greatest strength, and it’s found nowhere else but within us.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the author’s concern about AI in education?
The author is concerned that the use of AI in education, particularly in creative writing, is leading to a devaluation of the human experience and a lack of original thought. - How does the author feel about AI-assisted cheating?
The author finds AI-assisted cheating to be a scourge, as it allows students to take shortcuts and not engage with the writing process. - What is the author’s hope for the future of education?
The author hopes that education will continue to value the human experience and the process of writing, rather than relying on AI tools to do the work for students. - How does the author feel about the use of AI in creative writing?
The author believes that using AI in creative writing is a shortcut that does not allow for true creativity and originality, and that it is a form of "fake" writing that lacks the soul and passion of human writing.
