Monday, December 11, 2023

A Vote for AI

Should Artificial Intelligence (AI) replace English 101, the introductory college course dedicated to the essay in many forms? Professor Melissa Nicolas thinks so, as she makes clear in "Eliminate the First-Year Writing Course" in Inside Higher Ed. "Won't it be easier to have AI take care of students' biggest writing problems so that professors can focus on content?" she muses.

Nicolas laments the education system's perpetuation of the five-paragraph essay, which many English professors believe oversimplifies masterful writing and encourages a relatively mindless approach to composition. She makes sense in noting "we have limited scientific data that FYC [First-year Composition], as it is currently configured, does what it purports to do."

We writing teachers need to change what and how we teach. In other words, Nicolas tells us to get on board with this technology because it will not go away. Let's find ways of using AI in writing efficiently and credibly.