With the uproar over AI in academia right now, you would think the world was ending. Indeed, even I, myself, have been concerned about assigning writing assignments and assessing them accordingly. However, as I read through each article, I realize that my goals as a professor were never to maintain the status quo — no. My goals have been to practice Ulmerian theory and immerse my students in digital rhetoric! While I have currently shelved my plans to earn a PhD for a variety of reasons, the reason I considered becoming “Dr. Shadwill” in the first place was to create more digitally-oriented content for students and teach them how to navigate our increasingly technical world.
Honestly, colleagues have ranted about how to tell if a student or a bot wrote an essay, and I realize that using the same methodology cannot continue. Dr. Ulmer utilized non-essay assignments in my undergraduate courses, and the appeal had been the ability to incorporate more than simply words. What if I adapted the traditional assignments expected of us as instructors to fit a more multimodal approach? What if, perhaps, I move away from assigning so many words or pages and focus more on the presentation method? We all know most of our students aren’t going into fields that require a five paragraph essay, much less a 5-6 page research paper with 5-7 sources properly cited to one of two popular citation methods! What we can assume, though, is that students will need to present information at some point or another — why not shift gears and cater to our changing world?
Ah, but therein lies the dilemma: change. It has become a profane term as I’ve aged. We are willing to change our underwear, trash bags, litter boxes, hair, etc. Why can we not be so ready to change our approach to life? What exactly is it about essays (and other issues of which we will avoid here) that makes us so unwilling to bend? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it comfort in the tried and true? A longing to adhere to traditions? Something must change, and I propose we begin to accept that the status quo will never return to the “before time.” The sun rises and sets each day. Our hair loses pigmentation; our skin, its elasticity. The only way to defeat the AI “scourge” is to embrace that the world has changed forever. History includes various examples of world-changing events. Let us learn from our past and forge forward with a willingness to learn, regardless of our age and experience!
