That’s one of the better commentaries I’ve seen on the problems of AI in education. I’m glad the professor is pointing to the structural problems that have led to this in part:

when students have come through the Leaving Cert, which is hyper-grade-focused, it’s very hard to tell them that the point of university is something other than getting the best possible mark.

That’s such a good point. I hadn’t considered that the deeply flawed LC cycle has repercussions into the college years.

giving up on the intellectual labour of reading, thinking, and writing because it’s easier or the future … that’s a capitulation. That’s anti-intellectualism disguised as innovation.

That’s my biggest worry. We’ve seen what the collapse of education does to populations in the USA. We’re already fighting barriers caused by screen addiction etc.

We need their critical thinking skills, their beautiful thoughts,” Fitzgerald says. “We need them to struggle with difficult texts and emerge changed. That’s the point. Not the grade.

That was my own approach in college. I felt if I understood the material well, that I’d do good interviews and feel comfortable in the job. The grades came second, just slightly.