Serena Jampel in Harvard Magazine:
I recently copy-pasted an essay I’d written on Boston abolitionist movements into ChatGPT. “Chat,” I commanded, “please list three ways this essay is successful, and three areas for potential improvement.” The machine spat out an answer instantly, and as I watched it unfold, I was mesmerized. The computer pointed out that my thesis could have been more argumentative, suggested areas that could be more concise, and highlighted phrases I’d inadvertently repeated. In short, it did everything that I, a tutor at the Harvard Writing Center, am paid to do. And it took only 10 seconds.
Not all the advice was useful, but as a semi-professional writer and editor, I felt reasonably confident that I could separate the good tips from the chaff. The best part about my AI tutor was that it never tired, and I could correct it all I wanted. “That’s bad advice,” I typed, not caring that it was rude. It promptly revised its suggestions.
I feel obligated to issue the disclaimer that this paper was years old, and I used AI to revise it out of curiosity.
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