AI and the Death of Intellectualism

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hofstra chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The emergence of AI in recent years has been impossible to avoid. Constantly, there is a barrage of tech companies advertising their new AI features or an app implementing ChatGPT into their services. Artificial Intelligence seems to find its way into every crevice of modern life, often advertised as a cure-all for the daunting tasks that no one wants to do. It creeps up on innocent internet users disguised as a generator of ideas or a quick and specific search engine; but once it sinks its teeth into a victim, it reveals itself as the predator it truly is. AI creates a dependency so that users continue to come back for more until they are unable to use their own imaginations.

Artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT destroys human mental faculties like memory, reason and imagination. Users of AI often begin by quickly asking a homework question or asking to edit a sentence– simple questions that may be too tedious for the user to research themselves. It begins innocently enough, but it takes a turn when a student begins to rely on AI for most or all of their assignments. It’s a waste of time for both student and educator to have AI complete assignments because there is no real learning happening; exercises that are difficult are that way on purpose. Essays and writing assignments are designed specifically to allow students to make their own point, whether it be a research project or a personal reflection. Writing is a form of expression that makes us human, and every time a student or an author uses ChatGPT to write for them, a piece of humanity is lost.

One particular element of humanity in writing that AI has destroyed is the use of the beloved em-dash. Made by combining two hyphens, the em-dash is a form of punctuation that unites two related thoughts– similar to a semicolon. Used by writers for years without question, AI quickly adopted it into its generative writing. The problem lies within its overuse of the punctuation: teachers realized that most students would not use the em-dash to the extent that ChatGPT does and it is now considered a tell that an assignment was AI generated. However, this is problematic for writers and students that genuinely use the punctuation frequently, now their pieces may be incorrectly flagged as AI. This can often lead to writers stopping the use of the em-dash entirely. The fate of the em-dash is at stake because of Artificial Intelligence, which only leaves intellectuals to wonder which punctuation mark or grammar convention will be next.

Of course, AI has the potential to be a very helpful tool when used correctly. It could, in theory, help to find a niche piece of information that may be lost among the Internet; it has helped many in medical fields to find diseases like cancer early. It is important, however, to maintain the assertion that AI has no place in creative spaces. As intellectuals and, broadly, as human beings, the power to create is what makes us human. Humanity is stripped away when it is traded for something artificial. Students, professors and creatives alike have a responsibility to continue putting real effort into their work so that the arts of research, creative writing and emotional vulnerability are still around for generations to come.