#512: “We’re moving on from using it as a crutch and more so as a wheelchair.”

Article Club

Hi Loyal Readers. Thank you for opening this week’s issue of Article Club.

Today’s issue is dedicated to a great conversation I had with Piers Gelly, author of this month’s featured article, “What Happened When I Tried to Replace Myself with ChatGPT in My English Classroom.” The conversation was triply great because Prof. Gelly, who teaches at the University of Virginia, invited two of his students featured in the essay — Camille Villalobos and Max Goldberg — to join us.

The result is a thought-provoking discussion about college students’ perspectives on artificial intelligence, particularly when a curious professor engages them genuinely (rather than complaining, banning the use of AI, sticking their head in the sand, and secretly wishing we could turn back time to the Golden Age of Bluebooks).

I hope that you’ll read the article, listen to the interview, and join our discussion on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. We’ll meet on Zoom, say hi, and then dive deep into the article. You can sign up below; it’d be great to have you there.

I don’t want to give too much away, because I want you to listen to the conversation, but I must share what I appreciated most. It was how thoughtfully Cam and Max talked about their experiences taking Prof. Gelly’s class, as well as how their points of view on artificial intelligence changed along the way.

Not only are Cam and Max brilliant, but what’s also abundantly clear is that Prof. Gelly cares deeply about his students. They’re at the center of his essay. You’ll get a similar sense when you listen to the interview. Rather than making grandiose philosophical conclusions about the state of artificial intelligence in education, Prof. Gelly is curious, vulnerable, and dedicated to listening to his students’ views, as well as pushing them.

When you engage your students — as Prof. Gelly does — you gain nuance. For example, at the beginning of the class, Cam had been a liberal user of ChatGPT. By the end, she maligned AI as a “crutch” and vowed never to use it again. And her thinking has shifted even more, as you’ll hear in the interview.

On the other hand, Max did not leave the class with the same perspective as Cam. He sees valid uses for ChatGPT. But his experience shifted his sentiments as well. Here he shares what worries him:

 I would say the thing that concerns me most is people who use [AI] for everything. And I don’t just mean like coursework, but things like planning their schedules and asking it questions and having it do, like, basic, basic problems. I think that people need to be able to do some of that on their own.

I hope you enjoy the interview. Once again, huge appreciation to Prof. Gelly, Cam, and Max for generously saying yes to Article Club.

An invitation to our discussion on September 28

I warmly invite you to participate in our discussion on Sunday, September 28, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. We’ll meet on Zoom. You can sign up below, it’s free.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 24 new subscribers — including Ikechukwu, Amelia, Linda, Abigail, Matalyn, Anna, Inna, JB, Barry, Mohammed, Obaxbila, Damon, Janet, David, Shelly, Raj, Anna, Erfan, Belle, Samuel, and Sarah — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. Welcome to Article Club. Make yourself at home. 🏠

If you appreciate the articles, value our discussions, and have come to trust that reading Article Club is better for your mind and soul than your current habit of scrolling the Internet for hours on end (or avoiding reading altogether, hoping the world will vanish), please consider a paid subscription. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year. Big thanks to Janet, our latest paid subscriber — huge appreciation!

If you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe