AI TAKE THE WHEEL!
But at what cost?
This might sound weird because we have made it cool to hate education in this country for a while, but I am proud that I write my own papers. Listen, writing a 10 page APA paper is really hard and I believe that tools should be available to help those with writing barriers, but thinking about information, processing it deeply in your own brain, and putting the information in context helps your brain literally grow and specialize neuropathways.
The only way to become an "expert" in anything is to train, challenge, push. Im all about making changes in curriculums about incorporating more creative ways to show teachers that you have learned the information, but is letting AI cheat you out of your own growth worth the cost?
We live in a world of convenience. Industrialization cemented a mentality that has spread through globalization to most corners of the world. We are consumers and producers for most of our lives, but one spot of natural light remains even though it may be dim: education.
Learning is the foundational mechanism that we use to grow. As infants, we are constantly learning about our surroundings using our available senses and abilities, and over our lives we continue this process. School as a required formal institution has had to go through many changes as there is disagreement about what should be taught and to who. That being said, school is place where the purpose is to challenge yourself to learn more about things that are outside of your immediate surroundings. Researchers make mental learning an extreme sport and push themselves to learn things that can help make dreams of health and happiness a possibility.
AI can be great tools to assist in basic tasks, but critical thinking is what makes us human and capable of creating amazing things
When I was in grade school, Google had just started being a reliable and amazing tool to find information. It saved us time to have internet databases instead of physically searching for information in libraries. But when we had a project or paper to work on, we still had to think about the information and spend time to truly understand it or we would not do well on the assignment. I’ve noticed recently that there is a trend where undergrads are showing how they have used AI to write their papers for them. They seem triumphant showing how they fooled AI plagiarism detectors and managed to graduate without having to think much at all. I worry though that they are not thinking about the big picture. These assignments aren’t just things we have to “get through”, they are our opportunities to learn. I don’t think that students should have to suffer through prompts that have no meaning, but I do think that students should want to learn the information for their own sake.
Even if you feel that formal academic settings do not provide the environment where you can learn and grow, don’t give up on education. Find a place and a mentor who can help you through your journey of life-long learning. You deserve to self-actualize! AI can create a picture that resembles the ideal, but only you have the tools to be what you dream to be.