Apropos of AI, I for one do not welcome the arrival of our AI overlords. As a professor of ecology who attempts to teach undergraduates good writing habits as part of every course, I can only look on the arrival of ChatGPT and other artificial so-called-intelligent algorithms as the beginning of an educational hellscape from which there will be no escape. The first plagiarism cases with ChatGPT are already appearing, and I’m sure they’ll soon become a flood.

I’ve done a bit of research on this question, and have concluded the following: 1) AI is fine if you want mediocrity, but we are awash in mediocrity; why do we need more of it, 2)contrary to what Clayton Noblit says, it is not you generating the AI content; in fact, the AI’s have been shown to generate unpredictable, frequently erroneous content. Imagine an undergraduate with an underdeveloped critical sense generating an essay using AI, and 3) because the primary purpose of AI creators is to concentrate profits in their own hands, these algorithms threaten the livelihoods of creators everywhere, including yours, dear Sacha.

it is a truth universally acknowledged by writing teachers that the educational value of teaching writing lies in the student pursuing the process of writing in all its detail, from outlining to final editing and polishing. Does this involve some struggle? Of course it does. The struggle is part of the journey, and if you are shortcutting from the beginning to the end of the journey without experiencing the intermediate steps, then you are not learning, AND YOU”RE NOT FUCKING WRITING EITHER.

Does that seem a little harsh? Well, you’re a straight shooter, Sacha, so I’m sure you’ll be OK with some unfiltered opinions.

As for me, I am struggling with my current work in progress, but I’d rather go live in an unheated monastery on some Hebridean island and scratch out my words with quills dipped in my own arterial blood than use Chat GPT.

In closing, I say, Smash the Machines.