{"id":74413,"date":"2024-10-08T00:03:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T04:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=74413"},"modified":"2024-10-08T00:03:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T04:03:21","slug":"how-chatgpt-undermines-motivation-to-write-and-think-for-oneself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/how-chatgpt-undermines-motivation-to-write-and-think-for-oneself\/","title":{"rendered":"How ChatGPT Undermines Motivation to Write and Think for Oneself"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are students who use AI at risk of losing some valuable writing habits for their thinking and creativity? They are aware that the new tools can change their style and they sometimes feel dispossessed of their texts. Investigation in the United States and Europe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

When OpenAI\u00a0launched<\/a>\u00a0its new AI program, ChatGPT, in late 2022, education experts began to worry. ChatGPT could generate text that appeared to be written by a human. How could teachers detect if students were using an AI chatbot to\u00a0cheat<\/a>\u00a0on their homework and essays?<\/p>\n

As\u00a0a linguist<\/a>\u00a0, studying the effects of technology on the way people\u00a0read<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0write<\/a><\/p>\n

and\u00a0think<\/a>\u00a0, I believe there are other concerns that are just as pressing to consider than the risks of cheating. These include whether AI, more generally, threatens students\u2019 writing skills, the value of the writing process, and its importance as a vehicle for thought.<\/p>\n

As part of research for my new book on the\u00a0effects of artificial intelligence on human writing<\/a>\u00a0, I interviewed young adults in the United States and Europe about a range of issues. They shared a litany of concerns about how AI tools might undermine their writing. But these concerns have been brewing for some time.<\/p>\n

Automatic text generation, comfort or danger?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Tools like ChatGPT are just the latest in a series of AI programs designed for editing or generating text. The risk that AI will undermine both writing skills and the motivation to compose for oneself has actually been brewing for decades.<\/p>\n

Spell checkers and, now, sophisticated grammar and style programs like\u00a0Grammarly<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Microsoft Editor<\/a>\u00a0are among the most well-known AI-powered editing tools. In addition to spelling and punctuation corrections, they identify grammatical issues and suggest alternative wording.<\/p>\n

Developments in AI text generation include automated suggestions for online searches and predictive text. Type \u201cIs Rome\u201d into a Google search and you\u2019ll get a list of choices like \u201cWas Rome built in a day.\u201d Type \u201cif\u201d into a text message and you\u2019ll be offered \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cif it would be possible.\u201d These tools are intruding uninvited into our writing, constantly asking us to follow their suggestions.<\/p>\n

Young adults in my surveys appreciated the help AI provides with spelling and word completion, but they also reported negative effects. One survey respondent said, \u201cIf you rely too much on a predictive text program, you risk losing your spelling skills.\u201d Another noted, \u201cSpelling and AI software\u2026can\u2026be used by people who want to get by more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

One respondent mentioned laziness as a reason for using text prediction: \u201cIt\u2019s handy when I don\u2019t particularly feel like making an effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The zero degree of style?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

AI tools can also affect a person\u2019s writing style. One survey participant said that with predictive typing, he \u201cdidn\u2019t feel like he was the author of the text.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u00a0British high school student<\/a>\u00a0echoed the same concern when describing Grammarly: “Rather than relying on their writing, Grammarly can rob students of their style by suggesting significant edits to their work.<\/p>\n

Along similar lines,\u00a0philosopher Evan Selinger<\/a>\u00a0has worried that text predictions reduce the power of writing as a mental activity and self-expression:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy encouraging us not to think too much about the words we use, predictive technology can subtly change the way we interact with each other\u2026 We give others more of algorithms and less of ourselves\u2026 Automation\u2026 can stop us from thinking.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In societies that rely on writing, writing has long been recognized as a\u00a0way to help people think<\/a>\u00a0. Many have cited author\u00a0Flannery O’Connor<\/a>\u00a0‘s comment \u00a0:<\/p>\n

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A host of other accomplished writers, from\u00a0William Faulkner<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Joan Didion<\/a>\u00a0, have also expressed this sentiment. If AI-generated texts take on the task of writing for us, we reduce our ability to think for ourselves.<\/p>\n