Guest: ChatGPT should challenge today's writers to be bold, forward-thinking
ChatGPT is all over the headlines. This new language tool exploits AI technology to generate poems, college-level essays and even debug software code. The consequences of this breakthrough are far-reaching. Sometimes progress creeps, like a slow sunrise or a train lugging forward at the start. On Nov. 30, 2022, the world witnessed a transformation.
Jumping straight to the industrial implications of ChatGPT is natural. The tool is extremely impressive, and Americans are asking, “Can it do my job?” However, for those who deeply believe in the power of prose, the sudden arrival of ChatGPT elicits feelings that are an octave higher. ChatGPT is the video that threatens the radio star, the photograph pushing out watercolors, and the engine that made John Henry’s hammer obsolete.
The word “axiology” is stuffy. This is unfortunate because the concept behind the term represents a powerful way to view the world. Axiology focuses on what values we prioritize. For example, companies may emphasize diversity or sustainability. Similarly, a coach may rank effort above raw talent (think "Rudy"). A teacher might place value on participation alongside test scores. A loved one may be more interested in thoughtfulness than the actual utility of a gift. Axiology captures these tradeoffs.
In the context of the humanities, axiology has been the last line of defense against attempts to industrialize art, music and writing. Here is an example. In assessing the canvases of Pollock or Rothko, a naive critic may quip that their five-year-old could produce superior work. Even Google empowers anyone to “re-create” Bach’s genius. But just as a counterfeit bill is worthless (and even unwise to possess), so is art, music and writing that has failed to adhere to the values that infuse the humanities with meaning.
Communication is inherently interventional. Consider the therapeutic power of journaling. The process of articulation via writing allows us to decompress, deal with stress and engage in sensemaking. Further, journaling preserves our personal stories and experiences. We are each Tom Riddle as we journal, and a part of our souls lives on in our words. ChatGPT can never provide this value.
Nevertheless, writing is more than an emotional and cognitive coping mechanism. As we commit ink to paper, we enter a new world of our own making, and quite frankly, it is a thoroughly rewarding process. Anyone who has authored a short story or editorial knows the deep satisfaction that comes from “[getting] to be a writer,” as the bestselling author Brandon Sanderson puts it. Writing is its own reason for being. Perhaps it is little wonder that the popular website MasterClass.com has over 22 unique courses dedicated to writing. People speak of “runner’s high,” but my local library suggests that “writer’s high” is even more ubiquitous.
As a person who teaches undergraduate management courses, I hear lamentations that the college essay is dead. ChatGPT has the potential to generate a solid B+ on most of my assigned prompts in about 20 seconds. But, as I design my syllabus for the upcoming semester, I have taken the opposite approach. I teach business students that today’s workplace needs bold, creative and forward-thinking communicators: summarizing current knowledge or simply regurgitating past evidence is no longer what it means to be an author. As such, writing will take an even more critical role in my classroom.
More importantly, however, the axiology of true writing has been (and will be) resilient for centuries. Even as ChatGPT’s shadow looms, I say, long live writing.
Michael Matthews is a doctoral candidate at the University of Oklahoma, where he researches leadership and employee wellbeing.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: ChatGPT should challenge students to become forward-thinking writers
