The prompt of this assignment was to write an answer answering the question above. We could use research or just straight up word vomit, in which I chose the latter. I was already heated on this topic because earlier last week, a student in this same class’s group chat shamelessly admitted to us that she used AI fully to write the first ever response paper (worth 100 points of our grade by the way–a pretty big deal–) and I could not believe the amount of audacities she had, despite the fact that our professor put in the prompt not to use AI to write this paper because Turnitin will be able to identify AI.
Below is my response to the question above:
“I am going to have a lot of fun with this topic, because I absolutely think that language-based AI has the potential to ruin and completely destroy the progress and reputation that online education has built. I have never in my life seen so much deceit, lack of dignity, and complete disregard for the art of writing or learning than I have after 2020. During an internship I had that turned into a part time position, my former boss asked a group of writers what we thought about ChatGPT. I knew about it, because I actively despised it and saw it as absolute baloney and a disservice to the people who see writing as an art form, like me, and see learning as more than just “trying to outsmart the system” for a class you don’t like. (I get it, sometimes the stupid quizzes that come with a class you absolutely need are terrible and reading through walls and walls of text seems unbearable when you have two jobs and a bunch of other responsibilities. I find it ok to google the answer simply because you’re still learning; you just aren’t reading all that text. But when it comes to being able to form a cohesive thought for a paper on a topic required or chosen, the skill to be able to brainstorm, outline and just write seems to be lost.) But I could not believe what I was hearing when my boss uttered the words: “this thing can take our writing time down so much and we can focus on creating more revenue for the blog.”
“I felt like I was talking to a brick wall, because my former boss was not a writer, but a man with a dream to make money. I was the only one at that table that saw fault in using the program to create blog posts, because I read every blog post that was published as I was the site administrator. When I read this blog post, I couldn’t help but recognize that something felt off, hollow and weird. It was like a machine has written those words and I am pretty sure people are paying and checking out our website to read words from humans. Plus, I have seen too many ads on TikTok and even personal stories of students who are totally okay and carelessly using AI to write papers they are required to write. I have written extensively on this subject because the topic of AI in writing enrages me and I don’t understand how someone can disrespect the effort, time and talent it takes to write. I love how The Author’s Guild is dedicated to protecting authors against AI because AI needs the real words of humans to function. They are actively suing AI companies using writer’s work to “train” AI.“
The next portion of the assignment asked us to ask ChatGPT the same question prompt, and I needed to compare my answer to the answer that GhatGPT gave me. Needless to say–as I will not be sharing the entirety of its response here–ChatGPT’s answer was completely biased toward the positives of AI, including this ridiculous sentence:
“Overall, while language-based AI holds immense promise, it will likely work best when paired with human oversight and when used to complement, rather than replace, traditional teaching methods.”
However, I have information that simply negates this statement, according to this article, sharing that “About a third of high school seniors who applied to college in the 2023-24 school year acknowledged using an AI tool for help in writing admissions essays, according to research released this month by foundry10, an organization focused on improving learning.”
For my final sentence, I wrote these words: “Of course, the AI would be biased for itself. I like how the last sentence says “overall, while language-based AI holds immense promise, it will likely work best when paired with human oversight and when used to complement … traditional teaching methods.” AI right now is attempting to replace human touch from writing by giving people a convenient way to “get things done” but at a huge cost.“
At what cost will students sacrifice the beauty (and pain) of learning and knowledge for convenience and (nonexistent) shortcuts? This answer has yet to be found, and that truly is a sad case.
For further reading, check out my blog posts about AI and writing here:
Shanedra Writes Too Much 