Ken's Reviews > More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI

A great primer on what in hell "AI" is and, most importantly, isn't. With decades of experience as a college writing instructor, Warner's been there and back -- and now THIS. Any teacher of writing at any grade level can relate, as generative AI has become a major problem. Yet another mess, as if education wasn't dealing with enough brushfires.

First off, Warner sides with those who dislike the term "artificial intelligence" because, well, there's nothing intelligent about it. Warner and others prefer to call it for what it is: automation. That's all, really. It spits out based on data that's pumped in, and while Warner tries hard to find uses for it in education and even plays with the automation in many ways himself, he's hard pressed to give it much beyond minor tasks to make our lives easier.

Why? Because writing is thinking and AI doesn't think. Because writing is feeling emotion and AI doesn't feel emotions and cannot reflect. Because writing is quirky at times and provides a snapshot of who we are through voice, and if there's one thing a machine based on algorithms cannot do, it's provide much in the way of voice.

It stands to reason, then, if writers use AI to generate writing, they are denying themselves the process of writing, thinking, feeling. You know, all the stuff that makes us HUMAN. And if they sneak it by their instructors, they are winning battles in a war they are sure to lose because, sooner or late, what they never learned by doing will be exposed.

I like telling students using generative AI to write papers for you is like watching workout videos on YouTube to get in shape. Good luck with that!

Diving even deeper, Warner warns us that it's the Musk-type 1%-ers who stand to make billions on this. The Zuckerberg types who ditch fact checks and create algorithms that reward extreme voices on both sides of the political divide (and the country be damned!) on FaceBook or Meta or whatever it's now called. What's more, creating infrastructure to build and support bigger and bigger AI facilities in rural areas (they need space) is having a huge effect on the environment (if anyone cares), especially water supply (and good luck to farmers in the same county).

Bleak, but revealing. Warner ends with advice under the categories of "Resist," "Renew," and "Explore." If everyone takes this as fait accompli and sits on their hands, it will only grow into a problem that can no longer be tangled with. Sound familiar? The same problem seems to exist politically in the sharply divided States of America (in fairness, I removed the "United"). It's act, or bear the consequences of doing nothing while everything goes to hell in a generative handbasket.