Artificial Intelligence is Taking Over My English Classes

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have two very different English classes. One is centered around medieval times, and the other one is about modern-day literature (i.e., novels). Yet on the first day of classes, both of my teachers for those classes brought up AI and ChatGPT. It's in the syllabus as a tool that we're allowed to use only because there's no way for the teachers to monitor if we use it or not. They have no choice but to build it into the curriculum because it's not like the plagiarism platforms where they can copy and paste what we turn in into a website and tell if you stole work that isn't your own. They literally can't tell with AI technologies, or at least that's what one of my professors said.

It's mind-blowing to me and low-key a little bit scary. It's scary that there are non-human computers that can literally write better first drafts than I can. I get being able to organize information, but being able to think like a human to analyze something at a deep level is insane to me. For the first time, I've actually taken to heart what people have been saying about computers replacing humans in the workforce.

There's an AI robot that they put on Snapchat, and that one terrifies me. I've messed around with it just for fun and tested what sorts of things it may know. Not only does it know all different types of information, but it also is able to empathize with someone and offer resources. If someone wants to use AI as a therapist, it may actually work. AI is even replacing some therapists! One time I asked it what I should write about, and it didn't just list different genres. It gave me entire plot ideas. The elaboration and thinking that seems to go behind the AI technologies are so hard to wrap my head around.

My class was talking about AI just the other day, and people were talking about how AI stores your information. That's a question to leave you off on. What do you think? Where does our information go when we ask AI robots to do things, and how is it that it remembers the last thing we asked it? Does it creep you out? Is it cool? I personally didn't realize how big of a deal it was until teachers started talking about it in academia. Is it wrong that I still don't feel comfortable using it to help me with my essays?