Hang on to your seats, folks. This post is going to be gloves-off. I’m writing about this topic today because I get absolutely FIRED UP about it whenever it comes up in conversation…which is happening more and more these days.
You probably already know that I love efficiency. There is just something so absolutely satisfying to me about not only getting things done, but getting them done well and in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of energy expended. Work smarter, not harder. I love it. A large portion of Tightrope Teaching is centered around me giving you strategies for streamlining your life and work, making things more efficient and therefore less stressful for yourself.
SO…
Less time spent, less energy spent, getting things done…seems like a perfect description of AI, right?? Maybe.
BUT
I WILL NEVER USE AI TO WRITE, NOR WILL I EVER RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE IT.
And yes, I am wiling to “die on this hill,” “go down with this ship,” or any other metaphor you’d like to use that means NO, I am NOT BUDGING on this one!
Let’s talk about why the self-dubbed Queen of Efficiency will never, EVER use or recommend this efficiency tool, shall we?
1. It is SOULESS.
I mean, by definition…something artificial doesn’t have a soul. That’s obvious. But folks are now using this technology for all of the tasks that traditionally require a soul, like writing poetry, for instance.
As a writer, English teacher, and literature lover, I will admit that I see my bias here. I love poetry, and I always have. I’ve been writing and reading poetry since elementary school, and if I had to pick one genre to read for the rest of my life, that would be it. I fell in love with poetry because reading it gives you a window into the deepest soul of another human, and writing it is cathartic to your own soul.
Have you ever seen the film Dead Poets’ Society? (Rest in Peace, Robin Williams <3 ) If you haven’t, please go watch it right now. I’ll wait here until you get back.
Then you’ll understand what I mean, and you’ll agree with everything I’m about to say! 🙂
This is a sad, tragic, poignant, beautiful movie. I loved it so much that years ago I just had to find a way to work it in to my curriculum to share with my students, so I created an entire unit of study around transcendentalist writers and the poetry mentioned in the film.
An exceptionally brief synopsis of the plot: new English teacher uses out-of-the-box methods to instill a genuine love for poetry in the hearts and minds of teenage boys at a stuffy prep school. The movie ends in tragedy, but the boys discover what it means to have a fire for life in their bellies, rather than just going through the motions of a life that is planned out for them. They learn to “suck the marrow out of life.”
What does this have to do with AI? Here are some of the BEST quotes from that movie; I think you’ll see the connection:
“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”
“This is a battle, a war, and the casualties could be your hearts and souls.”
“Now, in my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again. You will learn to savor words and language.”
“I thought the purpose of education was to learn to think for yourself.”
” ‘O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish…what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity, that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.’ That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” (Mr. Keating quoting Walt Whitman)
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering…these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love…these are what we stay alive for.”
Really, I feel like I could go two ways with this post at this point: I could write a VERY LONG, detailed, brilliant analysis of each of these quotes and the philosophical truth expressed by each of them (I am an English major…that’s my jam, after all…) OR I could basically just let the brilliance and truth of these statements stand on their own, and leave you to let them marinate and simmer in your mind.
Since you’re a Tightrope Teaching reader, I know you’re short on time, so I’ll choose the latter! Maybe the next time AI comes up in your conversations, one of these will come to mind and you’ll pause.
2. You were given a Brain so that you could USE it!
Let’s begin here with a quote from Hamlet, where the tortured Prince wrestles with the meaning of his life:
If AI does your thinking for you, you are literally wasting the perfectly good (exceptional, really) brain that you have. We are living in a time that is an incredibly odd cross between I, Robot and Idiocracy…
3. As a teacher, it goes against everything I am supposed to be doing.
…particularly as an English teacher! Has your school district been sending you the same memos mine has? You know, the ones that offer PD on the topic of “AI is not going away, so we need to teach students how to use these tools responsibly.”
No.
If I get fired because I refuse to do this, because I want to actually teach my students how to think and write for themselves rather than teach them how to make a computer do the thinking FOR them…so be it. I guess that’s my cue that it’s time to find a new profession.
Right now, I have 9th graders coming to me with a 3rd grade reading and writing level (or less) who are bordering on functional illiteracy. Can I work miracles? No. But can I try my absolute darndest to raise their skill level as much as possible in order to give them a better shot at more options in their future? Can I try my best to help them improve their thinking and communication skills so that they can have an easier and better life as adults, and not be reliant upon a computer program for it? YES.
I warn my students: if you give me something written by AI, I WILL CATCH YOU EVERY TIME. I have a 100% track record with this. And yet, I still have students try to slip it past me. I will NOT teach students to use AI. I will teach them to think for themselves, like I always have.
4. It’s a slippery slope.
Ok, that’s for students…but why can’t adults use it to improve efficiency and make things easier?
Because your brain is like a muscle: use it or lose it. You start by using AI for small things, and then it gradually gains more and more traction and presence in your life. Kind of like…(can we be real?) kind of like a cell phone, which began as a tool of convenience and has now morphed into a bodily extension for many that has a powerful effect of real and detrimental addiction that affects peoples’ lives. (I warned you I was taking the gloves off). It’s a slow fade.
So, have I ever used AI? I’ll always be honest with you: yes.
Once, several months ago, I was getting ready to publish a blog post, and part of that checklist is making sure it has a great title. There was a button that suggested I ask AI to generate a title for me: curious about what it would come up with, I clicked. AI came up with 5 title suggestions, and I didn’t like any of them. None of them sounded like me…surprise, surprise…none of them seemed to really capture the essence of what I was writing about. So I didn’t use any of them–I used my own. I promise you, every word on this website, unless it is explicitly quoted from elsewhere, is straight out of my own mind and heart.
Could I publish more blog posts much faster and more frequently if I just asked AI to write some content for me on certain topics? Yup.
But that’s not what you’re here for. And it’s not what I’m here for, either.
You’re here because I am a real person like you; I teach full time, I’ve got a family full time, and therefore I’ve got limitations on my time and energy just like you do. I know the struggles and exhaustion you deal with because I deal with them, too.
And I am here writing to you because I genuinely want to help you navigate that; I only recommend things to you that I’ve actually done myself and have worked in real life for me. A computer can research and cross-reference thousands of sources and studies in seconds; I can’t. But AI will give you a one-size-fits-all response; I, on the other hand, will personally answer each one of your emails 🙂
Well, even though I could go on for days about why I will never buy in to AI, you’ve got other things to do, so I’ll wrap up here.
I love efficiency, but I love human connection more. In your search for the best ways to streamline your life, make sure you don’t sell your soul in the process.
To simplify the correct way is not just a matter of deleting items from your to-do list; rather it is a process of focusing intently on the things that matter most.
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