There
are 3 approaches to generative AI in the classroom: 1) an outright ban on it;
2) a limited use policy that covers certain assignments or parts of
assignments, and 3) an open approach that allows students to do what they
would. None of these are fool-proof, whatever the intentions of the professor.
Ultimately, generative AI are third-party, black-boxed products–more tempting
to students, perhaps, than Wikipedia, but also more treacherous. I feel for my
colleagues in the humanities attempting to wrest essays from students on
Shakespeare or Aristotle: generative AI is all too good at producing a mediocre
essay on these subjects. I also understand my colleagues in the computer and
information sciences, who utilize these chatbots to help with their instruction.
But with
anthropology, there are several caveats. 99.99% of writings on other peoples of
the world are drenched in ethnocentrism, colonialism and racism. The internet
is awash in complete nonsense about “tribes” and their “traditional culture,”
and, in generative AI, all of this is ground up and, like sausage, pumped into
prompt-driven content. Yet typically, students don’t know enough to be able to
distinguish a “good” and “bad” response from ChatGPT or Gemini.
This is
a somewhat longer way of saying that students often tried to utilize generative
AI in my introductory assignments and take-home exams, and their grades
suffered for it. Not because I was penalizing them for cheating; proving that
they’ve used AI is almost impossible, and generative AI detectors are
unreliable at best. Instead, the questions that I asked were all about the
anthropology I’ve taught in classes, and generative AI is, unfortunately, only
too willing to spit out all manner of palaver. Only someone who knows what to
ask can minimize the racism and colonialism inherent in generative AI engines.
The default is ideology. And hallucinations.
One
thing I want to include next year is some process of education. I really think
that students don’t really know any better. The least I can do is show them
that it’s not so easy and explain why that is–that generative AI is not giving
them the “truth.” Or, rather, it is: the truth of colonialism and racism that
underlies Western thinking about non-Western peoples. Anthropology’s sad
archive. But to someone who’s never taken anthropology before, this stuff looks
correct to them, and the temptation is too strong, especially in the panicked
moments before a deadline.
