Generative AI and the Struggle

Last week I posted the following on LinkedIn, and it kind of took off:

These questions seem to be useful ones, or at least provocative ones, since this post received over 8,600 impressions on LinkedIn. It also generated some very good discussion both on LinkedIn and Bluesky. I wanted to share some of my favorite responses here in the newsletter because I think they add a lot of nuance to those two questions.

Shawn Miller: Speaking as a musician myself (and less as an educator), I haven't really used ChatGPT for artistic endeavors either... BUT, because my artistic identity tends to be more experimental/against the grain anyway, I'd be more likely to use ChatGPT as a sounding board to show me the baseline, most bland, banal approach to something like lyrics for a song and then turn around and do the opposite.

On another wavelength - though I've done graphic design professionally in the distant past - I wouldn't call myself a 'visual artist' -- but I really enjoy using Adobe Firefly to not create hyper-realistic art - -but instead to pile on generation after generation of interesting tweaks to basically use the AI to create beautiful 'decomposed' things instead. I would consider the choices I make and the intentions to be at least 'art adjacent' -- I'm definitely using the tool to do things it wasn't originally intended to do.

Rebecca Campbell: What about the value of negative cues? Sometimes to get where I'm going I have to see what is not the answer. I'm finding that when Chatty Cathy gives me bad ideas it helps me refine my thinking in keying in on where I want to go. So for me it's become an additional writing strategy and not always a shortcut.

Brielle Harbin: Love this analogy! Aside from making me miss Nashville, it makes me think more deeply about when struggle is valuable for me. The hardest part of the writing process is often getting started so I think that ChatGPT is very useful for brainstorming…but of course the magic is bringing human intelligence and experience to adapt those ideas.

Side note: Now I’ll forever wonder if he finished the song! [He did!]

Neil Mosley: I think there's a lot in that but I also think there's a danger of becoming too binary about it when there's nuance - sometimes actually having to articulate a prompt to solve the challenge your facing can aid you, quite apart from the output you might get from that.

Sam Victor: Great point. I think for many academics, the overbearing presence of grant and other applications in our lives is pushing us into writing-as-product. It's a shame because coming up with valuable research ideas ought to emerge from good struggle. But we often just don't have the time for it anymore. Also, given the over-abundance of applicants, grantors have to find ways to shrink the pool quickly. I worry that means gearing success criteria more towards conformity to standardized structure. And if there's one thing ChatGPT excels at, it's conformity.

I would love to hear more on these ideas from readers! Are these questions useful for thinking about the role of generative AI in teaching and learning?

• When is the struggle the valuable part of the process?
• When is the struggle an undesirable difficulty?

Pod Network 49th Annual Conference

Next month I'll be attending the annual conference of the POD Network. That's the conference where teaching center people go! In case you're heading that way, too, I wanted to let you know about the sessions where I'll be co-presenting, along with another conference opportunity.

Pedagogical Improv: A Game (and Workshop) to Expand Teaching Imaginations

9:00 - 10:15am Monday, 11th November

Emily Pitts Donahoe, Joshua R. Eyler, Derek Bruff (and Liz Norell)

How often have you heard an instructor say something like, “That’s an interesting idea—but I don’t know how it would work in my class”? Our session will demo a workshop designed to address this common sentiment. Through the modeling of a game we call “pedagogical improv,” workshop participants come away with techniques that help them expand their pedagogical imaginations so they can effectively apply a wide variety of teaching concepts and strategies to their own contexts. Session attendees will leave with fresh methods and materials for tapping the pedagogical creativity of instructors on their campuses—no theatrical improv required!

Leaving a Center, Finding Yourself

3:45 - 5:00pm Tuesday, 12th November

Jean K. Bennett, Daniel Stanford, Derek Bruff, Francine Glazer, Esther Zirbel, Laurie McCarty

This session features panelists with a diverse mix of career-transition experiences, including mid-career professionals exploring consulting work within and beyond higher ed and late-career leaders considering consulting and/or retirement. Attendees will reflect individually and collaboratively on prompts designed to help navigate career transitions while building new connections to peers: How is my sense of identity connected to my work? Can I pivot or step back without completely abandoning the career I’ve built? What new career opportunities and challenges will emerge from remote work? How can I find financial peace of mind while exploring new opportunities?

POD Bird Walk

I am planning to organize another bird walk at the POD Network conference this year. Last year in Pittsburgh a half dozen of us braved the cold (and the bowhunters) to go birdwatching at Frick Park.

This year, I'm thinking we'll go out early morning on Tuesday the 12th, either to Washington Park (~15 minute drive from the conference) or Montrose Point (~30 minute drive). Montrose Point is supposed to be magic for birding, even in November, so I'm leaning toward the drive out there.

If you're interested in joining, please email me. I'll share details once I get those nailed down closer to the conference dates. And please know that you don't have to be an experienced birder to join in!

Thanks for reading!

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