Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in on a Bethany class? Are you curious about the content and connecting together the name, photo, and classes taught by the professor? Or maybe you would simply like to pause the busyness in your life to learn more about mathematics, music, communication, chemistry, etc.?
Amid the Trees highlights the expertise of our professors at Bethany by inviting you into their classroom and seeing a sample writing of their outstanding work.
Siri Did Not Grow Thumbs
By Angie Johnson, Associate Professor of English
On Saturday, December 17, 2022, a gifted author who is normally loquacious shot me this email:
That’s all it contained. At first, I thought the message was some kind of hoax or phishing, so I did what IT warns faculty not to do: I clicked on the link. It took me to an episode of “The Daily” podcast called “Did Artificial Intelligence Just Get Too Smart?” and three people I’d never heard of—Michael Barbaro, Sabrina Tavernise, and Kevin Roose, all with The New York Times—started yammering about something called “ChatGPT.” When I Googled “ChatGPT” to understand the topic, I learned it is a form of artificial intelligence that generates human-like text responses to written prompts produced by humans.
So, like… Siri? She can text now? Did she grow thumbs?
Intrigued by the idea of artificial intelligence sprouting limbs, I listened closely to the podcasters explain how OpenAI had released ChatGPT to the general public. They discussed its potential for solving math problems, writing code, and generating social media content, and then one of the speakers said something like, “A huge concern for educators is that students are using the tool to complete homework. ChatGPT can read articles and write essays for them. The world is going to hell.”
Okay, the podcaster didn’t say that last part, but the greater implication—that a machine is capable somehow of critical thinking (because writing is thinking, after all)—burst into my awareness like a parasitic wasp larva from the belly of its host, and the meaning of my friend’s message took hold:
💀💀💀💀💀 = Death to the Written Word
I thought ChatGPT marked the death of the written word, too. After listening to the podcast, I found myself trapped in a digital echo chamber of despair, and I stayed there for five long months. Fortunately, during a sermon in May of 2023, I was reminded that fear is often born of ignorance, and that got me thinking. Did I make any effort to explore counterarguments to the viewpoints I consumed? (No.) Did I stop to consider what I didn’t know before assuming I was right? (No.) Did I truly try to understand how AI might support learning and improve the classroom experience for students? (Yes. Fine. No.)
In the summer of 2023, I escaped my echo chamber of despair, and I never looked back. As soon as I began to explore the balanced arguments surrounding AI, I quickly learned the written word hasn’t died but is bursting with life and new possibilities. In real-time, chatbots can help students understand assignments, brainstorm ideas, refine arguments, understand difficult academic texts, and even explore new genres of writing. It’s one thing to use AI to support learning and quite another thing to use AI to replace it. Consequently, the ability to critically read and write has never been more essential. And I’m blessed. It is a privilege to work alongside curious colleagues and students to learn what chatbots can and cannot do. We are still reading and writing; some of us are just doing it differently. And while Siri didn’t grow thumbs (bummer), chatbots are a reminder that tools, no matter how advanced, are only as creative as the humans who use them.
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).