AI models are now ingesting scholarly content in an attempt to dispel their hallucinations. But another possibility looms: that AI will instead drag down scholarship into its muddy realm. A new essay on my newsletter: “AI Is Coming for Scholarship Next”
>I remember no papers required of the students. A final exam was the sole written exercise. Deciding to prepare for it together, we students divided the huge reading list amongst ourselves, each contributing a brief précis of some portion of it. The exam, however, surprised us all. It consisted of a single challenging question, formulated roughly as follows: “Criticize the readings in the course, indicating what works you would omit, and what others you would include.” In this inventive bit of pedagogy, Barzun not only paid respect to his students, but also demonstrated, however radically, the idea of the teacher as learner. —Carl Schorske
I’m not a teacher, but I would imagine that requiring students to show some personal knowledge of the particular course (and of the teacher!) could deter the use of artificial intelligence.