Is Artificial Intelligence Making Us Stupid?
Writing critically in the era of generative AI
Dear fellow writer,
A few weeks ago, I invited Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Harvard College Writing Center, to join me for what turned out to be a fascinating and wide-ranging Zoom conversation on “Writing Critically with AI.”
If you missed out on the live event, you can now watch a video of the first hour by requesting the link here, and WriteSPACE members can access the full two-hour event video in their membership Library. For anyone interested in reading more about writing critically with AI, I also recommend that you subscribe to Jane’s newsletter, Writing Hacks.
Here are some excerpts from WriteSPACE Event Manager Amy Lewis’ personal account of the live event:
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This event offered a thought-provoking and insightful journey into the world of generative AI and writing. Or should that be GenAI versus writing? While the jury may still be out on the impact that new AI writing tools are having on authors, students, and teachers, this in-depth conversation afforded a great opportunity to hear both sides of the debate.
Some memorable quotes from Jane Rosenzweig:
We survived Facebook, which was born and raised at Harvard while I was there … Then things were peaceful for a while, and now we have ChatGPT.
I started becoming quietly horrified by myself at my computer. And I kept thinking, I need to write about this, look what this can do!
Just because you can outsource your writing to a machine doesn’t mean you should.
Now that artificial intelligence is competent enough to research and write — and grade — for us, can we all just head to the beach? Jane and Helen were pretty clear that before you don your bikini, it’s important to consider the repercussions. Writing helps us develop critical thinking; so writers (particularly student writers) who use AI text generators may be missing out on learning those crucial skills. That’s why Jane is currently teaching a freshman seminar at Harvard with the wonderful title “To What Problem is ChatGPT the Solution?”
Helen and Jane expertly weighed up the benefits and drawbacks of generative AI, which I’ve cut into bite-sized morsels for you.
The good news!
If you know how to be cautious about fact-checking the content, GenAI tools can play great research assistants. They deliver shortcuts to obtaining key facts and summarizing long passages into helpful abstracts, and they excel at writing very plain business emails and strategies (helpful for writers who want to prioritize their time so they can focus on more creative tasks).
For teachers, the conversations around ChatGPT can spark debate and challenge students. GenAI also offers opportunities for collaborative work, illuminating discussions, and comparisons of writing styles.
The bad news:
Students are using these tools for things like brainstorming, style edits, and even, in the most alarming cases, for drafting work that they intend to pass off on their own. If they haven’t yet learnt the skills necessary to critically assess the output, they may produce work that is less creative, nuanced, unique, or even accurate than what they could and should have done on their own (ChatGPT is notorious for “hallucinating” and falsifying quotes!).
Is GenAI really ethical? In simple lay terms, large language models use algorithms that function a bit like predictive text messaging, using large data sets to predict the most likely answers. But we don’t know much about how these GenAI systems are trained. Which part of the internet is their training data coming from? Because companies like OpenAI are not disclosing this information to us, there is a risk that serious violations of copyright are being perpetrated by the bots — to say nothing of their perpetuation of cultural biases and stereotypes.
These systems require tons of water to be powered, quite literally! For each conversation of roughly 20-50 questions and answers, ChatGPT needs to 'drink' a 500 ml bottle of water. Now imagine the water usage with billions of curious users. What’s more, the servers are often located in countries that can’t afford to see their water supplies depleted so drastically. Check out this article for more.
The human labor training element of GenAI systems is often outsourced to developing countries where workers experience unfair working conditions. Jane recommends the recent New York Magazine article Inside the AI Factory.
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You can read Amy’s full account of the event on my blog. Find out how artificial intelligence resembles Mad Cow Disease and why some experts recommend that we avoid giving our chatbots cute humanoid names like “ChattieG”!
Warm thanks again to Jane for a thought-provoking conversation, and to the members of my wonderful WriteSPACE community for subsidizing this free event. An annual membership costs just $12.50 per month and unlocks access to hundreds of premium writing resources, including videos of all my past Special Events. Why not do your writing a favor and join the WriteSPACE today?
I’d love to see you there.
In the WriteSPACE
Weekly Wayfinder for Sep 25 - Oct 1
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On the website
Stylish Writing Intensive - October 19-22
Get ready for the Stylish Writing Intensive, my premier online course for advanced academic and professional writers who want to take their wordcraft to the next level. Transform your writing style in just 3 days with my curated program of advanced writing and editing workshops, dedicated writing time, and 2 hours per day of live coaching. Here’s what some past participants have said about the Stylish Writing Intensive:
JOY, ENERGY, AND PLEASURE
I found the workshops illuminating, the coaching enormously valuable, and the sense of community wonderful. Helen brought so much joy, energy, and pleasure to the whole weekend, it was truly catching.
(Sunil Amrith, Professor of History, Yale University, USA).
A PERFECT MIX
This writing intensive showed me how to sharpen my writing in immediate and impactful ways. A perfect mix of skills, workshops, personal writing time, consultations and feedback that push you to write more and write better!
(Nina Ginsberg, PhD student in Education, Griffith University, Australia).
THANK HEAVENS!
The SWI has transformed my writing (thank heavens!) as well as my attitude toward academic writing, which was one of absolute despair and dread prior to working with Helen.
(Kristin Holmes Linder, Artist/Educator, New York).
Each coaching cohort is limited to just 4 people each, so book now to secure your spot.
Coming soon
Writing and Risk-taking - October 17, 2023
Mark your calendar for this free WriteSPACE Special Event from 9-11 am CEST on Tuesday October 17. Join me and criminologist David R. Goyes, a senior researcher at the University of Oslo — and Stylish Writing Intensive alum! — for a conversation on the benefits and risks of defying disciplinary conventions to produce bold, engaging academic prose. The first hour of this WriteSPACE Special event is FREE to everyone who registers. In the second hour, David and I will lead a hands-on discussion and workshop exclusively for WriteSPACE members. Register now to attend the live event and/or to receive the video link afterwards.
Other writing news
It’s that time of the year …
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Kia pai tō koutou rā (have a great day) – and keep on writing!
Helen