UMATILLA, Ore. –
Generative AI has been on the minds of many as of late, with thoughts on how far things like Chat GPT can go to replace the need for human written works.Language Arts Teacher at Umatilla High School, Clint Hill, said he had originally seen articles online predicting the end of human writing or even writing teachers.After initial fears robots were coming for his job Hill took a look at what the current most popular AI can do and found that it can be a useful tool, but isn’t a replacement for human creativity just yet. He found that the language model isn’t good at writing things longer than 500 or so words or writing opinionated essays. It’s also very different from how a freshman in high school would write.
“I said ‘okay you guys I’m going to teach you about this new thing that’s happening,’ and I made it write an essay for them on the screen and they watched it and were shocked,” Hill said. “They were like ‘my life is so much better’ and I said ‘but here’s the problem.’ I made it write another one and then another one and I was like ‘look these are the same I’m going to be able to tell it’s not going to be hard to know.”
He said he’s teaching students to use it as a tool like a calculator is for math – not a replacement for understanding the equation. He said while it’s not very creative he showed students how it can help them with brainstorming, organizing an essay and even getting out of writer’s block.
“A lot of my time during essay writing is going around and helping students get unstuck and now with generative AI they are able to get themselves unstuck and get going again,” Hill said.Here is an Example of a poem written by Chat GPT:
“National Pizza Day, a celebration grand,A day to honor this delicious land,With toppings of cheese, pepperoni too,And all the ingredients that make it true.The crust so crispy, the sauce so sweet,A flavor so perfect, it can’t be beat,Whether thin or thick,with veggies or meat,Pizza’s a dish that can’t be beat.On this day we gather, friends and family,To enjoy a slice, so hearty and hearty,With laughter and love, we lift up a cheer,For National Pizza Day, it’s finally here!So let’s raise a slice, in honor of this treat,A dish that brings joy, and can’t be beat,National Pizza Day, a true delight,A day to savor, from morning till night!”
