We Are Teachers

On Writing and Artificial Intelligence

By Rachel Pierson, Memorial Computer Teacher

The pen is mightier than the sword,

For with it, words can be outpoured.

A blank page is a canvas, white,

A place to paint with ink, day or night.

With every stroke, a thought takes flight,

Ideas and stories come to light.

A writer's mind is a boundless sea,

With an endless stream of creativity.

But writing is not always easy,

It can be a struggle, oh so queasy.

But when the words begin to flow,

And the story starts to grow,

The pain and doubt begin to fade,

And the writer's heart is serenade.

Did you know that I didn’t write that poem? It was written by artificial intelligence. I used an AI that is gaining popularity called ChatGPT. I prompted it with, “write a four-stanza poem about writing.” As you can see, the rhyming isn’t always perfect, and that last line just doesn’t make sense. AI is in your life regardless, but you might not even realize it’s helping you.

You’ve seen advertisements for Grammarly, right? Or maybe you even have it installed to help you fix spelling or grammar mistakes in your writing. There isn’t a person sitting behind a computer looking at everyone’s writing; it’s an AI trained on correct spelling and grammar.

When you’re typing in a Google file, sometimes you see grey text pop up on the screen, trying to guess what you’re about to write. That is also a form of Artificial Intelligence. So is Apple’s FaceID on the iPhone, and so are Siri, Alexa, and “okay, Google.”

Are we becoming better writers because of Artificial Intelligence, or is it taking away our unique voice? Many experts are trying to figure out that very question. Teachers are wondering what it will be like in schools in the future. It could help us do our jobs better or cause us to be a bit lazy in our writing. Instead of a “wait to see” approach, what can we do to be an active participants in how AI can shape our future?