Love this idea. Regular, short, low-stakes practice is also a really effective way to... practice. Completely agree that giving up on teaching writing is a shortcut to hell, as far as critical thinking and the functional society that depends on it go. Also seems key to make this point really, really clear and explicit to students; the function of writing is not to get a grade or even communicate at this point, it is to explore and develop their own thinking. This means outsourcing writing is outsourcing thinking, and a key purpose of taking a philosophy course is developing your thinking skills. By using AI, they are cheating themselves even more than the professor or a future employer.
Here’s a libertarian solution to the AI problem in higher education. Open AI gets to be a U, no professors. Students get a bachelors after creating their own curriculum and requirements, and they interact only with AI. At traditional Us, we do it exactly as we did in 2019. Students who turn in AI plagiarized stuff get expelled to Open AI U. Then we let the labor market settle who is more knowledgeable and skillful. If our students not using AI puts them at a disadvantage, so be it, we're staking our confidence against that of the tech overlords.
I have done it for 100 freshman! Giving one or two quick comments, it takes me 4-5 hours. But never mind that, my proposal here is to just grade the shorties for completion on the theory that they’ll do it to fare better on the exams.
Having written and contributed to many articles on AI I took the decision last week to stop writing or commenting about it. However, as a professional writer and artist I will say this: I don’t think putting anti-AI personnel mines into a curriculum will help. What will work, in my opinion, is inspiring students in the beauty of the written word, the use of the imagination and of philosophical thought. I still love writing with a pen. Cursive writing is an art form as much as is calligraphy and requires more skill than using a paintbrush. When I look back at my life it is those people who have inspired me to continue through all the hardships of improving as an artist that matter. They are the voices to which I still listen.
Thanks Victor. A very interesting read that reflects a lot of what we are struggling with in other unis. Also capturing writing style that entices your to read till the end hoping for a miracle! Writing is important not just for the social sciences, but for public health as well..this is where our students are supposed to acquire critical thinking and applying theories to their work. Good luck with your plan. It is logical, but does not apply in large classes. I recommend that we give our students an essay to write (after providing tips on how to write etc..) and ask them to submit small parts in two or more graded assignments: part 1: introduction and conclusion with core references; part two is 2 body paragraphs. My big concern and challenge is teaching them how to read in the first place. We assume they know how to do this but we have seen over the years that this is not the case. That is worth spending a bit of tie in class on before we ask them to write. WDYT?
Love this idea. Regular, short, low-stakes practice is also a really effective way to... practice. Completely agree that giving up on teaching writing is a shortcut to hell, as far as critical thinking and the functional society that depends on it go. Also seems key to make this point really, really clear and explicit to students; the function of writing is not to get a grade or even communicate at this point, it is to explore and develop their own thinking. This means outsourcing writing is outsourcing thinking, and a key purpose of taking a philosophy course is developing your thinking skills. By using AI, they are cheating themselves even more than the professor or a future employer.
Here’s a libertarian solution to the AI problem in higher education. Open AI gets to be a U, no professors. Students get a bachelors after creating their own curriculum and requirements, and they interact only with AI. At traditional Us, we do it exactly as we did in 2019. Students who turn in AI plagiarized stuff get expelled to Open AI U. Then we let the labor market settle who is more knowledgeable and skillful. If our students not using AI puts them at a disadvantage, so be it, we're staking our confidence against that of the tech overlords.
I'm surprised there is no iUniversity yet tbh
Great idea! Not sure I could do the shorties with 50-100 freshman though. Unless… AI can grade them for me. Now who’s the cheater?!
I have done it for 100 freshman! Giving one or two quick comments, it takes me 4-5 hours. But never mind that, my proposal here is to just grade the shorties for completion on the theory that they’ll do it to fare better on the exams.
The NYT has a story about instructors using AI today! https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/technology/chatgpt-college-professors.html
Having written and contributed to many articles on AI I took the decision last week to stop writing or commenting about it. However, as a professional writer and artist I will say this: I don’t think putting anti-AI personnel mines into a curriculum will help. What will work, in my opinion, is inspiring students in the beauty of the written word, the use of the imagination and of philosophical thought. I still love writing with a pen. Cursive writing is an art form as much as is calligraphy and requires more skill than using a paintbrush. When I look back at my life it is those people who have inspired me to continue through all the hardships of improving as an artist that matter. They are the voices to which I still listen.
Thanks Victor. A very interesting read that reflects a lot of what we are struggling with in other unis. Also capturing writing style that entices your to read till the end hoping for a miracle! Writing is important not just for the social sciences, but for public health as well..this is where our students are supposed to acquire critical thinking and applying theories to their work. Good luck with your plan. It is logical, but does not apply in large classes. I recommend that we give our students an essay to write (after providing tips on how to write etc..) and ask them to submit small parts in two or more graded assignments: part 1: introduction and conclusion with core references; part two is 2 body paragraphs. My big concern and challenge is teaching them how to read in the first place. We assume they know how to do this but we have seen over the years that this is not the case. That is worth spending a bit of tie in class on before we ask them to write. WDYT?
Judy