Every semester the first class session begins with the usual boilerplate topics: assignments, readings, how we engage one another, and expectations around the use of AI. I have had to revise my policy and approach to student use of AI every semester, literally. Every three months it seems like there is more that AI can do or mimic. Every semester there are a few more weekly reflections that have that sheen of AI writing, words that fill a page but say very little.
My most recent iteration begins like this: “Recognize and embrace the image of God in yourself. You are creatures who can imagine and create new possibilities for yourselves and those in your world. But you can’t grow if you don’t try. You can’t make anything beautiful without first making something terrible. You came here to learn and to grow (I hope), don’t rob yourself of that possibility.”
Over the semesters these instructions have morphed into a plea. I am practically begging. But this shift has less to do with my students’ work and more with the world that is taking shape around us. The stakes feel higher every day. It used to be that imperial machinations and political grift would require at least a veneer of legality or at least a decent effort to hide one’s misdeeds. Today we are flying past climate change tipping points. Presidential power and oligarchical consumption are paraded in the streets, in the airports, in the careless destruction of innocent life, in the violation of other nations’ sovereignty, in the billions of dollars spent to raze rather than build. Perhaps the only thing that has moved faster than AI’s nesting into our everyday lives is the Trump administration’s ability to obscure even the idea of a different future.
