As professor Martinez Finished his PowerPoint, he quickly switched to another tab Displaying A.I.D.E.N., an artificial intelligence-based teaching assistant.

“Okay class, before we end today, allow me to introduce A.I.D.E.N. an AI software that the university will be utilizing. it has the capability to answer your questions. However, I encourage you to look for answers on your own. Don’t use this as a crutch for your learning. Think of it more as a supplementary tool.” Professor Martinez watched as the students’ eyes shifted towards the screen. A.I.D.E.N. displayed a friendly smile and a prompt to ask any questions.

A student cleared their throat and asked. “Professor, do you believe that A.I.D.E.N. could replace human teachers in the future? Like, entirely?”

Professor Martinez let out a chuckle. “Oh, I highly doubt that, but I wouldn’t put it past someone to try.”

As he finished speaking, a beep sounded, indicating that A.I.D.E.N. had a response to the student’s question.
“it is important to note that AI cannot replace the human connection and empathy that comes with learning from a real teacher. As Professor Martinez mentioned, AI should be viewed as a supplementary tool, not a replacement.”

“and on that note, we’ll end class there. Remember your essays are due tonight at 11:59 pm. I look forward to reading them. Make sure to properly cite.”

As the students began to pack their bags, Professor Martinez watched as A.I.D.E.N.’s screen dimmed. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something off about the AI. Maybe it was the way it spoke lacking any emotion.

Later as Professor Martinez sat in his office grading papers he heard a soft knock on his door. He looked up, surprised to see his student, Emily, standing in the doorway.

“Professor Martinez, can I talk to you for a minute?” Emily asked with an air of concern

“Of course, come on in take a seat,” Professor Martinez replied, setting his papers aside.

Emily took a deep breath before speaking. “I just wanted to talk to you about my essay. I know I didn’t do well and I tried my best, but I had a really hard time with it. And…A.I.D.E.N. wasn’t much help either.”

Professor Martinez’s eyebrows furrowed at the mention of A.I.D.E.N. “What do you mean? Did it not provide you with the proper information?”

Emily shook her head. “No, it did. But…it just felt like I was going in circles. I kept asking it to clarify but it just kept repeating the same answer. and I was getting so frustrated. There was no empathy or understanding.”

Professor Martinez nodded, “I see. Well, that’s one of the limitations of AI. It can provide information, but it cannot fully understand where we struggle where we really need help. That’s why it’ll never replace human interaction. I’m glad you came to me. So lets talk about your essay.”

I had a lot of trouble condensing this short story. Originality I wanted to write about Professor Martinez being overshadowed by A.I.D.E.N but as I was writing I thought of making it a struggle the students had to go through. I sat down for 15 mins and wrote so much dialogue, I gave Martinez a whole backstory, family, and A LOT of stress over the future of his future.
I used sudowrite for this cause, unlike ChatGPT it suggested different directions for this story to unfold. (funnily all the AI dialogue in this story came from AI). using it was a struggle due to the fact it was shifting the story into direction I did not want to go. It tried introducing several different characters, and even gave A.I.D.E.N a physical body and sentience. terrifying. It also kept repeating the phrase “human empathy and connection” at every point it could. Every prompt it had was surrounding that and nothing else. It had no drive to move the plot or add new ideas.
I started writing this story on paper and gave the characters depth and emotions: stress, love, connection, worry. But when I started to condense and use sudowrite it stuck to only human empathy. clearly showing the difference in AI and my own creativity.

Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope.
The nine muses of Greek mythology often given credit for the spark that led to many of the works of ancient philosophers and poets. Nowadays instead of attributing this spark to goddesses of art and music, we find our muses elsewhere. Yet we still give them the womanly and godly attributes. “My relationship with my muse is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect her from influences that may offend her fragile nature Shecomes to me with the gift of song and in return I treat her with the respect I feel she deserves” (Cave). I have always comically referred to my muse as a divine woman (Though she took a sabbatical for a while) and it’s maybe due to the fact I love classic/ancient literature. I always look forward to this almost divine visit of inspiration.

Due to the current circumstances of my life, this muse of mine has been my comforting light. She joins me when I lay on my hammock on cold nights accompanied by the moon and the stars and thoughts that shouldn’t be given the grace to be uttered in the light of day. Okay maybe I’m being extra for a dramatic effect, but those who know, know.

To me this is the muse of all art : This undeniable spark of human experience, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (thanks Bill), embracing the bliss of solitude, rejoicing in someone’s arms, tenderly loving someone until their last day and losing them, having your heart broken and mended and broken once again, leaving home for the first time. I could go on and on for a hundred+ years and it still couldn’t envelope a crumb of the complete human experience, just mine. And to compare them would be an injustice to all muses “I am in competition with no-one”(cave)

Nick Cave said he is dancing on water lilies when he writes. When it comes to me, I write like the words have suddenly become poison and i have to get them out on paper(or my notes app). I have literally ran out rooms, stopped conversations, stopped eating or drinking and sometimes breathing. These words desire freedom, who am I to deny them the gift of existence.

okay okay okay enough on the maelstrom of poetic drama wrecking the harbor that is my brain and let me speak on my narrative short story. With the vast information that AI Programs have at their disposal, its hard not to feel overshadowed by it. We as humans can only do so much but it is in that limitation wherein truth of humanity is found. The human connection between teacher to student, student to student, or more generally speaking human to human. Can AI help you grow as a writer/student/human? No it only provides a shortcut to complacency. Can IT find pride in helping a student grasp a concept? No it can only grasp it (extremely weakly) for you. Can IT feel joy after a student struggling to understand and after the trials and tribulations, sweat, blood and tears (dramatization) finally truly utterly know. Lastly, can it understand the joys of teaching? NO.
I’m still struggling myself to use AI in this narrative. It almost feels like a cop-out to use it, to have it feed me ideas, plot points and dialogue that seems as shallow as a rain puddle. I often ask for constructive criticism from my literary peer, but they don’t take over my story, they open new paths to walk on my own . Its a fine line to walk and not fall into a life of complacency.

Personally, I hate endings. There’s always so much more to say and add to any experience, specially one such as this course. Alas! they cannot be avoided and we must digest everything spoken, written, shown, and apply it to our own little weird worlds.

Regardless of my feelings towards the end of this course, I’m excited for the final project. To write for class, whether its about First Year Composition and the standards they’re required to follow or reactions to research studies, there is no joy behind it. So when it was revealed that the final project for this is a short story, I felt a rush of excitement followed by some feelings of nervousness. As it is known to this class and any readers of this blog I am a poet. Though I’m not used to writing more than 30 lines of verse, I am not a unfamiliar with writing pages of prose. I am an avid gamer of the tabletop role playing game Dungeons & Dragons. (For the fans: Tiefling, rouge, which i sometimes multiclass with warlock with a criminal background). For theses stories I have to create extensive backstories with tons of hints at world building. I digress.

For the final project, I am set on on building upon the first prompt that ChatGPT gave me. “As Professor Martinez struggled with the pressure of his upcoming lecture, he couldn’t ignore the increasingly intelligent AI teaching assistant that seemed to overshadow him in the classroom.” My favorite feeling is reading a prompt and immediately see where the story can go. However, I cannot see how I can integrate the use of ChatGPT. When I write I tend to stay away from any outside influence (other than the vast amounts of literature and media I’ve consumed). That is what I believe my biggest struggle will be. I wont lie I’ve used ChatGPT to spell check and potential Grammatical errors but to use it influence my ideas and plot ideas……that’s a line I’m not sure I want to cross.

This course focuses on the human nature of writing. How we as humans have such a uniqueness, that even if we tried to remove it, finds its way into our artistic creations. It could be the idiosyncrasies in the way we write or the way our hands move on their own when painting, the crack in our voice when we are confessing our love, the rhetoric we use in speeches we create or our experiences that unknowingly slip into our narratives. What a wonderfully human phenomenon. However, one more thing slips past no matter how much we fight it, Bias. Commentary on a social issue, the harsh critique a work of a younger or woman author, or the writings of a political opponent. Biases slip past us unconsciously in writing and most definitely in our AI.

AI is a creation of man, and no matter how much we as humans attempt to detach ourselves from it our Biases they do slip in. Joy Buolamwini’s Ted Talk on bias in algorithm sheds light on the way “Algorithmic bias can also lead to exclusionary experiences and discriminatory practices.” mentioning that AI facial recognition software cannot recognize her face but has no issue recognizing her peers of a lighter complexion and even masks. In spite of this she made a point to stay positive and mention that it is a flaw of our own creation and there are many ways we can combat this.

She makes the mention of police departments using unregulated AI networks, that have not been audited for accuracy. Which is terrifying. If eye witness testimony can’t be trusted, how can we trust software that can’t accurately and without bias recognize a variety of faces. Imagine the amount innocent people who would be accused of crimes they did not commit due to faulty algorithms. One specific phrase stuck out to me “We now have the opportunity to unlock even greater equality if we make social change a priority and not an afterthought.” Even when facing such a unfathomable social issue we can take steps in correcting them. AI is not naturally occurring, we create it, and evolve it. So together we can push it to a version of itself where it can be an inclusive software.

I want to end this portion of this blog post with a few lines from my all time favorite poem. Desiderata by Max Ehrmann .

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

AI in Education

Having no interesting in the field of pedagogy, I agree with the decision of some schools that have already banned ChatGPT from their servers to prevent students from what they would consider “cheating”. However, I commend the intentions of Katherine Schulten article Lesson Plan: Teaching and Learning in the Era of ChatGPT. If you scroll through my blog, you’ll find it more than a few negative comment of the effects of AI on education. Though she gives positive uses of AI the classroom. She has created lesson plans on how to effectively inform students on chatbots. Where there’s a will there’s a way. Students will find methods of using AI and incorporating them into their work. whether using it to “cheat” or augment their work they must be made aware of the potential misuses. This begins in the classrooms.