Small world, I used to teach at Collegeville Institute during the summer. I ran workshops with Eugene Peterson and a slew of other theologians. They did the theology parts and I did the writing workshop parts. I loved the lake, the views, those mid-century cottages, and tea in the pottery studio. I've harvested chanterelle mushrooms in the woods near the institute, with permission of course. I hope you're having a wonderful time. And if you see Carla, tell her I said 'hello.' She's just the best.
I just finished grading a bunch of creative nonfiction essays and there was so much language that felt AI generated. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe students are reading a lot of AI slop and their syntax reflects it. And of course, AI reflects writers for obvious reasons. But the essays I'm reading now are wildly different than the ones I was reading a year ago. I have to find a way to talk with my students (again) about protecting their voice without putting them on the defensive. For this batch, I just wrote a lot of comments, nudging away from wise-sounding generalities into the particulars of their lived experiences.
All of which is to say, that after hours of discouraging grading/commenting, finding your essay was such a gift. Thank you. (And I'm sure I'll be sharing it with students in some way).
You bring up such a good point-- that the influence of AI on writing is not necessarily just copying language that's been generated by AI but (perhaps) internalizing the kind of language that AI uses. I like your approach of "nudging [students] away from wise-sounding generalities into the particulars of their lived experience" and encouraging them to protect their voice. I'm thinking back to an article by Meaghan O'Rourke where she talks about how using AI for other tasks began to impact her interior life. I'm not teaching right now, but when I read it, I thought it was the kind of thing I'd probably share with my students if I were: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/opinion/ai-chatgpt-school.html
Small world, I used to teach at Collegeville Institute during the summer. I ran workshops with Eugene Peterson and a slew of other theologians. They did the theology parts and I did the writing workshop parts. I loved the lake, the views, those mid-century cottages, and tea in the pottery studio. I've harvested chanterelle mushrooms in the woods near the institute, with permission of course. I hope you're having a wonderful time. And if you see Carla, tell her I said 'hello.' She's just the best.
What a small world! I love the lakes here too. I'll definitely pass on a hello to Carla!
I just finished grading a bunch of creative nonfiction essays and there was so much language that felt AI generated. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe students are reading a lot of AI slop and their syntax reflects it. And of course, AI reflects writers for obvious reasons. But the essays I'm reading now are wildly different than the ones I was reading a year ago. I have to find a way to talk with my students (again) about protecting their voice without putting them on the defensive. For this batch, I just wrote a lot of comments, nudging away from wise-sounding generalities into the particulars of their lived experiences.
All of which is to say, that after hours of discouraging grading/commenting, finding your essay was such a gift. Thank you. (And I'm sure I'll be sharing it with students in some way).
You bring up such a good point-- that the influence of AI on writing is not necessarily just copying language that's been generated by AI but (perhaps) internalizing the kind of language that AI uses. I like your approach of "nudging [students] away from wise-sounding generalities into the particulars of their lived experience" and encouraging them to protect their voice. I'm thinking back to an article by Meaghan O'Rourke where she talks about how using AI for other tasks began to impact her interior life. I'm not teaching right now, but when I read it, I thought it was the kind of thing I'd probably share with my students if I were: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/opinion/ai-chatgpt-school.html
Thanks for sharing this! I'm bookmarking it to read this weekend.
I still think our conversation was one of the more prescient!
https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/a-group-chat-about-chat-gpt-4/
I've thought back to this conversation on several occasions too!