in automating thought, we forfeit understanding.
I had the pleasure of sitting in for a former philosophy professor’s lecture last week, in which he covered this Irish philosopher by the name of George Berkeley. Berkeley essentially claimed that matter cannot exist unless it’s being perceived by a mind. Fascinating, but I noticed I was the only person asking questions. Strange if you consider that I’m not even enrolled in the class… I looked around to find every face, drowning in a computer screen, seemingly forgetting to come up for air. That was, until the lecture was over and the professor began explaining the assignment they were to complete. You robots!
I figured this class wasn’t the one I had taken last fall, as the final was an oral presentation instead of a written essay. To my surprise, I was told that it in fact was the same class I was previously enrolled in; the professor had simply adjusted the syllabus. “My students are submitting robot essays,” he told me. Robot essays? Like, essays written entirely by ChatGPT? Indeed, not an ounce of thought or drop of authenticity in the hundreds of papers he spends his time grading. You robots!
Imagine, a great passion for the subject and a calling to share knowledge, fueling nine years of college-level education, all to be met with impassive students in your classroom each morning. Not only are these uninterested students doing a disservice to their professor, but to themselves. Aimlessly clicking away on a computer throughout lectures to then mindlessly pasting the essay’s rubric into AI, just to get by with a passing grade. You robots!
Five years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and four years of high school lead into undergraduate study. Twelve years spent memorizing seemingly useless information and pointless formulas, annotating mundane novels, rushing to meet deadlines, all while trying to balance a social life, extra-curriculars, familial relationships and the task of staying sane.
Oh, and don’t forget about college application season. Enduring the SAT and ACT exams, begging for grade curves to save your GPA, scavenging for leadership positions, rushing to meet volunteer hour requirements, and trying to prove you were more than just another number.
All of that chasing for what? To shut your brain off and let AI think for you when it really matters? Are you in this for a piece of paper, or a future? You robots!
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