I work at a university writing center for a living and I can’t echo the sentiment behind your words any better. There has been a lot of writing I have seen within the last 6 months that isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just that it’s so surface-level tip of the iceberg explanations/thinking. ChatGPT honestly lacks a surprising amount of substance behind what it generates, and it shows. It tends to spew out a bunch of empty platitudes that sound smart, but are intellectually empty. Anyways, I throughly enjoyed your article overall!
Yes. It loves to say things are “thin,” “real,” “legible,” etc. It picks vague adjectives to hedge and say something without saying anything that could be mistaken.
I see the same thing with my students (college). The kids who can write, will keep writing. And the rest will produce more nonsensical slop that will sound good but say nothing meaningful. It’s as somebody recently said: “It’s never been easier to be great and it’s never been easier to do nothing.”
What annoys me is that now one has to instruct the AI to do less because its first instinct is to override the human voice completely. The other day I was on my walk and recorded a voice memo, basically a first draft of an article. When I got back to my office, I ran it through grok to get a transcript. It gave me the verbatim translation AND followed it with a much more sanitized, editorialized version that sounded like Linda from HR. It had no personality, no charm, it was definitely not my voice.
And now I have to go back and forget the slop I read. Not exactly an efficient process.
Lisa, I loved your article on AI and student writing. May I quote you in a future blog on the subject? I think you've seen my Substack blog titled Watch Your Tongue! I look for3arde to hearing from you.
I work at a university writing center for a living and I can’t echo the sentiment behind your words any better. There has been a lot of writing I have seen within the last 6 months that isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just that it’s so surface-level tip of the iceberg explanations/thinking. ChatGPT honestly lacks a surprising amount of substance behind what it generates, and it shows. It tends to spew out a bunch of empty platitudes that sound smart, but are intellectually empty. Anyways, I throughly enjoyed your article overall!
Yes. It loves to say things are “thin,” “real,” “legible,” etc. It picks vague adjectives to hedge and say something without saying anything that could be mistaken.
Agreed. At times, it says a lot of things without really saying anything at all, lol.
I'm a long-time English teacher, semi-retired now, and writing novels. I write first drafts by hand. It is unbeatable.
I see the same thing with my students (college). The kids who can write, will keep writing. And the rest will produce more nonsensical slop that will sound good but say nothing meaningful. It’s as somebody recently said: “It’s never been easier to be great and it’s never been easier to do nothing.”
What annoys me is that now one has to instruct the AI to do less because its first instinct is to override the human voice completely. The other day I was on my walk and recorded a voice memo, basically a first draft of an article. When I got back to my office, I ran it through grok to get a transcript. It gave me the verbatim translation AND followed it with a much more sanitized, editorialized version that sounded like Linda from HR. It had no personality, no charm, it was definitely not my voice.
And now I have to go back and forget the slop I read. Not exactly an efficient process.
a wonderful and insightful post—-my students are sometimes surprised I don’t use it.
Just put this on my fall English 1101 syllabus
Lisa, I loved your article on AI and student writing. May I quote you in a future blog on the subject? I think you've seen my Substack blog titled Watch Your Tongue! I look for3arde to hearing from you.
--John Salustri: jsal.scs@gmail.com
Only one AI agent and interface will work toward protecting human meaning, creativity, and education.
In the end, these essays will be written in class, under teachers' supervision.