Lara Reyes-Terry, Week #3: On AI Usage (Personal Frustrations)
My friend “MB” and I had a conversation about AI after I mentioned my old addiction using an AI chatbot. I mention this because this is the main root for my current and enduring hate for AI. Back in middle school, I was completely hypnotized by the immediate answers to stupid questions about fictional stories, character hypotheticals, etc. I have never used it for academic purposes--rather shamefully, it was for fandom. I make this clear to provide the emotional context for this conversation. I thought our talk was interesting enough to share. This is heavily paraphrased and cut due to our actual conversation being four hours long.
L:
You told me you were shocked to see a lot of our fellow students readily lean on AI to do homework, specifically humanities/English homework. Can you elaborate on that?
MB:
A lot of people in my Chem class are using ChatGPT (pronounced “chat-goopt”) to “brainstorm” for their English assignments. I just think it’s stupid. You can’t call it brainstorming at that point, it’s just numbers and averages because of course STEM students would use math for the humanities.
L:
One of the first articles we got for the RAPs actually mentioned this college student who had been interviewed for a study. The student, over communication, said he barely used AI, but when he and the person conducting the study met up? He said he used it all the time. He even joked about needing it to talk to girls--like…c’mon dude, don’t even joke like that.
MB:
It makes my blood boil, the thought of people generating things behind closed doors, and then if they get a higher score than me? Here I am giving it my all to do proper, complete analysis--and then there’s someone who couldn’t be bothered to think about it for two seconds! How is that fair? And the teachers don’t even know most of the time! I don’t even like it when the teachers say that “you can use it as a study guide.” Surely it will help when you’re involved in compiling the information. I don’t want to be disrespectful to the teachers, for all we know they’re probably against it, but they just have to be respectful to the STEM students when those same students can’t be respectful about ours. Like, lemme at them.
L:
I get what you’re saying, but I’m not really sure if that’s the case. We live nearby Silicon Valley, people are inevitably going to be a part of that community. AI is popular for the reasons we all know, and if the teacher makes the choice available? It would be their responsibility to know the consequences at that point. On the flip side about the STEM students, we have friends that are STEM students. You are being forced into it, which actually might be relatable to a lot of people because of the social advantages in those jobs. I don’t think it’s a good idea to be disrespectful back. Wouldn’t you want to show up respectful, demonstrate the knowledge you’ve gained from doing things “the old fashioned way?” Show them what they’re missing out on, I guess. Not even STEM students at that point, AI people in general is what I think we can agree on. We talk all the time about how STEM jobs are uplifted and the importance of the humanities and arts is diminished. But I don’t think uplifting our community starts with putting down the future of STEM.
Image: https://pin.it/2lvSeJQEq
Lara, what I want to first say is I love the structure of your blog. At first glance, I was a bit confused due to its uniqueness, but after reading, this changed. I feel like I read it like I was watching a tennis match, going back and forth between the two speakers; it was honestly really effective in keeping me engaged.
ReplyDeleteI also want to point out the fact you prefaced information. That is also something I have not done yet and lowkey, I want to try that. It set up your blog without giving too much information away, but still enough to get your point across. I think I might try emulating in the future.
I heavily relate to the part where your friend shared that she feels angry when those who use Chat get a better score than the people who use the "old-fashioned way," because I too feel that the old-fashioned way is better for us, and how it feels unfair that others cheat their way to a better grade.
I must say however I disagree with the joke about using AI to talk to girls. I found that hilarious.
I also want to point out that I enjoyed reading the italicized words and that they definitely added to the voice of the blog. Yet another thing I plan on emulating in the future.
Wait also I didn't mention this but lowkey sometimes—mostly when I'm bored—I ask AI to write stories for me, and I read them. Most of the time they're horror or sports based.
Overall, I really enjoyed your blog and I feel like it inspired me on how I want to go about writing my own in the future.
The setup of your blog is really intriguing! It reminds me of the interviews that yearbook does, where we ask someone different questions and they respond. It adds a sort of storylike element to the blog and makes it more engaging to me since I get a peek into how others view different topics.
ReplyDeleteAI is a topic that I honestly have never really known how to approach. I have never used ChatGPT, and only really was exposed to the idea of using AI for school when my English teacher had us complete an assignment where we critiqued AI writing, but I can understand why the use of AI in English classes, since they are heavily based on seeing people's own skills, not what others present to them.
I also liked how you not only acknowledged the aspects of you friend's views that you agreed with, but also pointed out how different methods could work better as opposed to the one they wanted to use. It adds more depth to the blog since it is not an entire agreement and shows how people can agree on one thing, but have different views on how that things should be handled.
Lara, I had to pause reading “‘chat-goopt’” dropped as a pronunciation of ChatGPT in your blog because that is just so wild to me. How anyone would conclude such a way of pronouncing GPT is beyond me…our peers are truly so innovative in the prospect of language. It was funny to me, is all. I also admire how you and your friend are able to hold academic conversations that actually demonstrate lots of logical reasoning and bring up nice points. My friends and I on the other hand, we’re always bickering out of pure hatred for each other—or actually, out of love for the art of arguing and proving that we’re right when the facts are as clear as the sky is blue.
ReplyDeleteBack on topic, I completely agree with your friend MB disliking teachers’ encouragement of the use of AI even if it’s just for a study guide. There’s just something about teachers promoting a tool that is already rapidly ransacking the dwindling brainpower of their students that rubs me the wrong way. I will always be against using AI, despite whatever time crunch that pressures students to rely on it. Like honestly, just do the work yourself or take the punishment your grade reflects when you don’t. There shouldn’t be motivation from the teachers themselves in ever laying hands on AI generating anything for class.
I do like that you bring up the point of not being disrespectful toward the students who do use AI, however, because even some friends of mine use it. I never outright shame them for using ChatGPT—these friends are some of the smartest people I know. I just sometimes imagine the use of AI as a ticking time bomb, or an infection, that spreads across the brains of its users, slowly eating away at the brain’s bandwidth for thinking critically in one’s own efforts. This is very likely not the case with actual repeated use of the tool, it just seems that way to me. Your counterargument to both MB and my beliefs is very valid; the future of STEM will surely be in the hands of these students and I’m sure AI will play a huge role in STEM developments. I just hope to see a better trend in the thinking capabilities of our community’s students as AI continues to grow in use.