Shulman: Do We Really Want to Outsource Imagination?
AI's ability to instantaneously generate content is threatening student creativity, especially during the college application process, Elizabeth Shulman wrote in an opinion piece in Newsweek.
We followed up with Shulman, who teaches at Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, to better understand what she's seeing in the classroom.
What is your key concern about using AI as a tool in classrooms? Generative AI was not created by educators. It was created by Big Tech companies who don't have degrees in education and don't teach. Yet it is branded as a tool and tutor. Specifically with seniors in high school, some colleges are considering eliminating the college essay because so many students are using AI to do it for them. Generative AI is just another thing that has infiltrated schools without consulting educators.
Should students should learn how to use AI at all, and if so, what is the best way to integrate AI without jeopardizing a student’s individual creativity? Yes, students are going to need to learn how to use AI because of future jobs. The best way to integrate it is to make sure they are still creating their own original thoughts at the beginning of the writing process. Thinking critically is the fundamental core of our value system as educators and educational institutions. Students have the fundamental right to be in classroom environments where they learn how to be innovative, creative thinkers. Generative AI has the potential to rob them of this right.
What are the most threatening aspects of AI in education? Students are using it to cheat and plagiarize. Many are missing out on the crucial drafting stage where they spend time learning who they are and what and how they think about things—developing their critical thinking skills. Their brains are still developing, so when they use generative AI, it becomes a crutch to avoid doing the work that teachers design for them to learn.
How does it impact teachers? A school in Texas has totally replaced teachers. Big Tech leaders are making decisions about education that educators should be making. Also, it has become very difficult to prove if students use it to write essays, and the point of writing essays— any kind of writing— is to learn basic skills. It's become harder to teach writing if students are learning they don't have to generate their own writing. Perhaps the area of greatest concern is how quickly and uncritically education institutions have been embracing AI. Educators have been moving at lightning speed to accept AI without thinking through its dangers and limitations, and we risk failing our students with what they really need from us.
What are the potential benefits of integrating AI into classrooms? It could be helpful for students to compare AI-generated writing with their own, but this means that students will first have developed their own voice based in critical thinking.