This is Not The End: What AI Can Do & What We Can Do About It

Facilitated by: Paul Knox, FLC 

 In 2023, The Atlantic published an article by Stephen Marche titled "The College Essay is Dead." Among Marche's claims is the assertion that generative AI will fundamentally change education. In the year since Marche offered his grim prediction, students' uses of AI have certainly challenged many features of education, rendering some unviable, others problematic, and most needing significant revision. The scope of the changes suggests that it is not enough to change individual assignments. While it was once possible to write assignments that the AI could not complete, such assignments become more uncommon by the day as AIs become more and more powerful. 

 The first step to responding is deciding how we will formulate the challenge generative AI poses to college education and to ensure that our response is well-informed. The four elements of this talk do both. It will:

• Demonstrate some of the capabilities of current generative AI models can do, with an emphasis on text-based output in community college classes;
• Offer various ways to frame how instructors, departments, and institutions respond to generative AI;
• Share my responses to generative AI in the English classroom;
• Introduce a curated database of resources that will help others to make informed decisions.

Attendance at this professional development activity is limited to LRCCD employees and invited participants.