How AI is Making English Class (Even) Better
In January, I walked into my classes and said , “AI can do everything you can do, and I can’t tell the difference between a robot’s writing and yours. Should we just cut English from our curriculum?”
In the English-teaching world, the start of 2023 was dominated by predictions of doom. The Atlantic published Chat GPT will end High School English, the NY Times reported that colleges were frantically restructuring their English programs, and The New Yorker investigated The End of the English Major. English teachers were forced to consider the value of teaching students to write something that a machine could produce in seconds. With limited time in the day, and a range of fascinating projects competing for curriculum space (Race and privilege! Coding! AAPI history! Bullfrog dissection! Gender studies!) we had to consider whether reading for enjoyment was enough.
“I still believe in the value of learning to read thoughtfully and write eloquently, and I don’t think AI is a threat to that process.”
As the dust settled, AI panic calmed in English class even as it ramped up in the rest of the world. Our students don’t want to cut English class, and neither do I. I still believe in the value of learning to read thoughtfully and write eloquently, and I don’t think AI is a threat to that process. Instead of engaging in a technological arms race to ban the use of AI, PKS has spent the last 4 months embracing the full potential of English class and its complex interaction with technology.
“We want to learn how to think for ourselves.”
First, I pitted our fourth graders against the machine. I gave students a choice of two writing prompts (“write a story about something that happened in your life last week” and “consider the ship of Theseus. When is it still the same ship?”) . I gave the same prompts to chatGPT, instructing it to write at a fourth grade level. We compared answers, and by traditional metrics (spelling, grammar, rhetorical construction) chatGPT won hands down, while still retaining a plausible fourth-grade tone in its writing. Looking at these examples, I told my students, "You will never truly "need" the skills that we learn in English class - literary analysis; informational, persuasive, and creative writing. Why should we continue with class?" The students’ answers fell into two main categories: 1) English class is fun 2) We want to learn how to think for ourselves.
“ChatGPT can tell you a story about a child’s life, but it can’t tell anyone about my life. It doesn’t know what’s in my head. Only I can ever write that.”
What our 10-year olds can articulate so clearly is the purpose of education, and in particular, the purpose of a progressive education. It not only brings joy, it teaches a process that can never be emulated by a machine. We can no more outsource our thinking than we can outsource our emotions. One student argued that “reading and writing are fun, and if we just let machines do it, we take a lot of joy out of the world”. Another said, “chatGPT can tell you a story about a child’s life, but it can’t tell anyone about my life. It doesn’t know what’s in my head. Only I can ever write that.” I think they are onto something.
“Rather than banning AI writing tools, students worked with them.”
In 8th grade, teacher Liam Stanton dug deep into the potential for AI with his project, Data Driven Where. Students explored Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact on society. Some of the activities included reading excerpts from Chen Qiufan and Kai-Fu Lee’s science fiction novel, AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future; debating the ethical usage of social media after watching the documentary The Social Dilemma; and interrogating the messy process of quantifying pedagogical outcomes by planning, delivering, and analyzing a lesson for 7th graders. Students also wrote persuasive arguments about whether or not ChatGPT should be allowed in schools - using ChatGPT itself throughout the writing process. Rather than banning AI writing tools, students worked with them. They used AI to create a draft of a persuasive essay, and spent time evaluating the process and outcome.
Maile’s excellent short story, Sacrifice, examines the potential of AI to make ethical decisions in our legal system. Teia and Dani spent time working with Sudowrite, an AI-powered writing tool created by PKS parent James Yu. Sudowrite isn’t intended to create a product for the writer - it is a tool they can use in their writing process. One of the biggest problems facing middle school writers is a tendency to get paralyzed by fear and perfectionism, and to end up with a blank page and a feeling of “writer’s block”. Sudowrite can gently release writers from this block, by generating possible ideas, suggestions, and next steps.
“More space and energy are freed up for critical thinking, reflection, and experimentation. Our classroom is buzzing!”
Just a few weeks after the release of GPT-4, AI has taken its place alongside spell check as a regular writing tool. Our students continue to brainstorm, debate, peer edit, and ask teachers “is this good?” With the decreasing proportion of student brainpower dedicated to handwriting, spelling, and now brainstorming, students are increasingly using their academic time to find their own stories and refine their own ideas. More space and energy are freed up for critical thinking, reflection, and experimentation. Our classroom is buzzing!