March 10, 2025
Troy Jollimore in The Walrus raises some profound and thorny issues about the havoc generative AI ‘magic bag’ tools like ChatGPT are wreaking on education, issues that remain open and unresolved. His main concern is that if students don’t put in the blood, sweat, and tears of genuine effort, we risk devaluing education’s true purpose. It’s not just about passing a course or getting a degree; it’s about cultivating individuals who can think critically, solve problems creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society:
“So I am in a position to know and appreciate what a difference education makes to the quality of your life. The vastness of the world it opens up to you while simultaneously instilling in you the curiosity to explore it. The sense of perspective it offers, enabling you to view the events of your life, and the events of whatever historical moment it is yours to live through, in a much larger context, rather than being resigned to viewing them from a standpoint of uncomprehending ignorance, as if they were all happening for the first time and for no discernible reason.
The fact is, I want my students, all of them, to have that kind of experience, to have the opportunity to live that kind of life. I don’t want them to be cheated out of it. I don’t want this, even if they themselves are the ones they are cheating. No Magic Bag is worth that.”
I highly recommend reading the whole article: https://thewalrus.ca/i-used-to-teach-students-now-i-catch-chatgpt-cheats
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