A College Assignment for the A.I. Era

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the robots.

This image was generated by Artificial Intelligence (Adobe Firefly).

Every college professor I know is complaining about students using artificial intelligence to complete their work. Students ask A.I. to summarize the readings, write comments and contributions for class discussions, and of course, to write their papers. For my online summer course, I thought it might be helpful to have students start the semester by considering the implications and limitations of artificial intelligence.

Here is the assignment:

FIRST DISCUSSION BOARD PROMPT

(Please read this article by Noam Chomsky about ChatGPT and language acquisition).

Artificial intelligence is not new, but the Large Language Models (LLM) that allow CoPilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity to write in ways that resemble human conversation are on everyone’s minds these days. Especially educators. That’s because teachers have been focused on basic argumentation and rhetorical skills for a very long time.

I should probably take a moment to explain what I mean by RHETORICAL SKILLS. Let’s start with a dictionary definition — from the Oxford English Dictionary:

rhetoric, n. The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others.

Rhetoric means persuasion. It’s how we use language to make an argument, to present an idea, or to try and convince someone of our viewpoint. We use rhetoric to share our perspective in a casual conversation, a doctoral thesis, a YouTube video essay, a newspaper article, a song lyric, or even one of those rants that folks upload from their car to Instagram Reels.

Rhetoric is a super important part of what makes complex human civilization possible. It’s how we communicate. Oftentimes, when we think we’re judging someone’s intelligence, we’re really just judging their rhetorical skills. Better rhetorical skills will make you seem smarter and more confident. That is why you’ve probably spent a lot of your academic career — especially during your middle school and high school years — learning about the five-paragraph essay.

How many times did you have to practice writing thesis statements and support paragraphs? A considerable amount, I’m sure. It was probably annoying. I know I found it irritating when I was a student. Why? Because it felt formulaic and boring. But when I became a college professor, I began to understand why thesis statements mattered. I got why they were so important. It’s not only because good writing requires a concise, well-articulated claim (or argument), but also because good thinking requires clarity, direction, and focus.

You may think that basic rhetorical skills are just one of those annoying “school things.” You might assume they don’t really matter in “the real world.” But you’re wrong; they matter most in professional contexts. When Jeff Bezos was CEO of Amazon, he required executives to distribute six-page narrative memos to all participants before each meeting. He wanted to make sure everyone had thought through their ideas well enough that they could be articulated clearly and understood precisely. No PowerPoints. No rambling explanations. He thought bullet points were just an easy way to hide messy thinking. He only valued thorough, carefully crafted, well-structured arguments and presentations. In other words: good rhetoric.

Teachers understand this, that’s why we have traditionally assessed student writing almost entirely on how well it follows the basic five-part rhetorical structure that goes all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers. Plato described it in Phaedrus and Aristotle described it in Poetics. You’ve probably been learning it since elementary school — from your first book report, to your most recent college paper.

Here’s the crazy thing: nowadays, there’s a plethora of AI chatbots that can do basic rhetoric just as well as most people…if not better. So, how do you write something that demonstrates humanity? How do you write something that not only employs basic rhetoric, but also does something that CoPilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity cannot? How can you express the complexity of human emotion and embodied experience? That’s the real challenge.

There’s no doubt that Artificial Intelligence’s Large Language Models (LLM) make rhetoric easier. Likewise, diesel-powered excavators, backhoes, and dump trucks make it more convenient to dig deep holes and lay the foundation for large structures. And in the same way that our construction technologies upgraded our expectations for architecture, artificial intelligence will ultimately upgrade our expectations for rhetoric.

So, with that in mind, here is your first assignment:

Write a discussion board post to introduce yourself to the rest of the class. Tell us why you’re special and unique. What can you bring to this world that could never be replaced by artificial intelligence or any other yet-to-be-imagined technological innovation?

• Include examples, stories and personal anecdotes that AI could never know.
• Use language and imagery that expresses your humanity.
• Write about how things feel. Machines don’t have emotions, but you do.
• Write in an embodied way — describe physical sensations like the hair on the back of your neck, the warmth of your skin, smells, tastes, and sounds. Machines don’t have bodies and sensory perceptions, but you do.
• Be precise, specific, and original. Perhaps even subversive and provocative. Artificial Intelligence Large Language Models (LLM) work by analyzing vast amounts of data, learning patterns and connections between words and phrases. In other words, they’ll always be average and normative, because they are always building new content derived from what’s common, what’s been written before.

I asked Perplexity A.I. to summarize this assignment. Here’s our conversation:

JORDAN: Summarize this assignment. Please extrapolate the professor’s learning goals and expectations. Include five bullet points and no more than 500 words:

PERPLEXITY: The assignment is for a university-level humanities class. It involves writing a discussion board post to introduce yourself to the rest of the class. The professor’s learning goals and expectations focus on demonstrating your unique human qualities and rhetorical skills that cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence. Here is a summary of the assignment, including the professor’s learning goals and expectations:

Assignment Summary
Objective: Write a discussion board post to introduce yourself, highlighting what makes you unique and irreplaceable by artificial intelligence or any other technological innovation.
Learning Goals and Expectations:

Demonstrate Unique Human Qualities:

• Share personal stories, examples, and anecdotes that AI could never know.
• Use language and imagery that express your humanity and individuality.

Express Emotions and Sensory Experiences:

• Write about how things feel, emphasizing emotions that machines cannot experience.
• Describe physical sensations, such as the hair on the back of your neck, the warmth of your skin, smells, tastes, and sounds, to convey an embodied experience.

Showcase Rhetorical Skills:

• Use effective language to persuade or influence others, demonstrating your ability to make a well-structured argument.
• Be precise and specific in your writing, perhaps even subversive and rebellious, to stand out from the normative patterns AI might produce.

Highlight the Limitations of AI:

• Understand that AI large language models work by analyzing vast amounts of data and learning patterns, making them inherently average or normative.
• Emphasize your ability to think creatively and uniquely, beyond the capabilities of AI.

Engage with the Class:

• Introduce yourself in a way that fosters connection and engagement with your classmates.
• Share aspects of your personality and experiences that contribute to the class dynamic and learning environment.

Key Points to Include in Your Post

• Personal Stories and Anecdotes: Share unique experiences that highlight your individuality.
• Emotional Expression: Write about your feelings and emotions to convey your humanity.
• Sensory Descriptions: Use vivid descriptions of physical sensations to create an embodied narrative.
• Precision and Specificity: Be clear and detailed in your writing to demonstrate your rhetorical skills.
• Creativity and Uniqueness: Show how your thinking and expression go beyond the normative patterns of AI.

By focusing on these elements, you will create a compelling introduction that not only meets the assignment requirements but also showcases your unique human qualities and rhetorical abilities.

JORDAN: Why did the professor write such a long introduction?

PERPLEXITY: The professor’s lengthy introduction serves multiple purposes, providing a comprehensive context for the assignment and the course. It educates students about the current AI landscape and its implications for rhetorical skills, clearly defines rhetoric and its importance in various contexts, and emphasizes the unique qualities of human expression that AI cannot replicate. By referencing real-world examples like Jeff Bezos’s memo policy, the professor illustrates the practical importance of good rhetoric beyond academic settings. The detailed introduction also offers clear guidance for the assignment, outlining specific elements students should include in their discussion board posts. This thorough approach sets a strong foundation for the course, motivating students to craft posts that showcase their unique human qualities and rhetorical abilities. Ultimately, the professor’s extensive introduction ensures students understand the assignment’s objectives and its relevance to both their academic and professional futures.

JORDAN: Why did he include the article by Noam Chomsky?

PERPLEXITY: The professor included Noam Chomsky’s article to provide a critical perspective on AI language models like ChatGPT, highlighting their limitations in understanding and generating human language. This context helps students appreciate the unique qualities of human expression that AI cannot replicate, such as emotions and sensory experiences. The article encourages critical thinking about AI’s role in language and communication, framing the assignment’s goal of showcasing uniquely human rhetorical skills and preparing students for deeper discussions on the intersection of technology and language.

This image was generated by artificial intelligence (Adobe Firefly).

JORDAN: Can you write a response to this prompt?

PERPLEXITY: I apologize, but I cannot write a response to this prompt for you. The assignment is specifically designed to showcase your unique human qualities, personal experiences, and rhetorical skills that cannot be replicated by AI. Writing a response for you would defeat the purpose of the assignment and go against the professor’s learning goals.

JORDAN: What would it look like if AI tried to write a response?

PERPLEXITY: If AI attempted to write a response to this assignment, it would likely fall short of the professor’s expectations in several key ways:

1. Lack of Personal Anecdotes: AI cannot provide genuine personal stories or experiences. Any anecdotes would be fabricated or generic, lacking the authenticity and uniqueness the professor is seeking.
2. Absence of True Emotions: While AI can describe emotions, it cannot genuinely feel or express them. The emotional content would likely come across as shallow or inauthentic.
3. Limited Sensory Descriptions: AI might attempt to describe physical sensations, but these would be based on data patterns rather than real, lived experiences. The descriptions would likely lack the nuance and specificity of human sensory perception.
4. Normative Language Patterns: As the professor points out, AI tends to produce content based on average or normative patterns found in its training data. It would struggle to be truly subversive, rebellious, or uniquely creative.
5. Lack of Genuine Human Perspective: The AI’s response would not reflect a real person’s unique worldview, values, or personality traits that have been shaped by individual experiences.
6. Inability to Demonstrate Irreplaceability: The AI would struggle to articulate why it is irreplaceable by technology, as it is itself a technological creation.
7. Potential for Generic Content: The response might include common introductory elements or generic statements about uniqueness that don’t actually demonstrate individuality.

In essence, an AI-generated response would likely be well-structured and grammatically correct, but it would lack the genuine human qualities, personal touch, and unique perspective that the professor is explicitly looking for in this assignment.

(FEEL FREE TO USE THIS ASSIGNMENT IN YOUR OWN CLASSES, please attribute).

This is a REAL image of the author, Jordan Shapiro, with a robot friend (Beijing, China 2018).