One of the things that those of us who teach writing will routinely tell students, administrators, grant-making organizations, and anyone else foolish enough to accidentally ask our thoughts on the matter, is that writing is a kind of thinking.
The process of transmitting thoughts via the written word obligates a writer to recast vague thoughts into something more concrete. And the act of doing so requires us to test those thoughts and fill in the mental gaps for the sake of their reader, who cannot follow the hidden paths thoughts will follow.
I am not sure about all of you, dear readers (at least I hope there is more than one of you), but I am in need of clearer, more detailed thought about technology these days.
Educators have been complaining about how technology makes our students more impoverished learners at least since Plato told the story of how the god Thoth's invention of writing would destroy memory.
In between the arrival of Large Language Model-based Artificial Intelligence and the imminent arrival of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the form of Apple Vision Pro, the volume of concern and complaint is once more on the rise.
I also have my concerns, of course. But I am also excited for the potential these technologies offer to assist students in ways that were once impossible.
For example, ask chat GPT to explain something to you. It will try to do so but, invariably, it will be pulling from sources that assume specialized knowledge — the same specialized knowledge that makes it difficult for students to comprehend a difficult concept.
But after this explanation is given, you can enter a prompt that begins “Explain this to a…”
Fill in that blank with some aspect of your persona. A Biology major. A football player. A theater goer. A jazz aficionado.
You can even fill in types of animals, famous figures — real or fictional (I am fond of using Kermit the Frog), or other odd entities (like Martians).
In short, ChatGPT will personalize an explanation for every difficult concept for every student.
AI and AR/VR/Spatial Computing are easy to dismiss as gimmicks, toys, and/or primarily sources of problems that committees need to address in formal institutional policies.
I am already trying to teach my students how to use ChatGPT to their benefit. There are a lot of digressions about ethics and the dangers of misuse.
But everyone agrees that these technologies will change our future. And as an English Professor, it is my job to try and prepare my students for that future as best I can.
To do that, I think I will need this space to think out loud.