Warning: personal anecdote incoming. You may not know this about me but, as an Atlanta, GA native and living with my parents in the 1990s, I grew up watching a LOT of professional baseball. So I had a real shock when I learned that AI is now being used to call balls and strikes in the minor league (and will be in the majors next season!). I went to a local minor league game this summer, and the only time the umpire would call a pitch was when he disagreed with what the computer had already put up on the board. On another summer day I went to a Savannah Bananas game, where in addition to the run of play, there is also dancing, acrobatics, cheer leaders, marching bands, and heartwarming appeals to support foster families.
I left both games feeling my head spinning slightly: in one game, human judgement being supported (or replaced) by technology; in the other, extra "human" creative and emotional elements added in. It reminded me so much of the messaging around teaching: "Let AI grade for you!", "More tech helps us discover more!", but also "We should care about our students!" and "Make everything more personal and emotional". Talk about an overload!
As I elaborate further in a blog post, I feel like our conversations about teaching (and teaching with GenAI in particular) end up really being conversations about the role of human qualities, even human bodies, in learning. Are we building classrooms and learning experiences for our students that are more similar to drills and workouts that the fans never see? Or high stakes performances? The answer, of course, is "it depends" and "a little of both." Luckily for all of us, many other people have asked about some of these questions before. Here are a few links to other "food for thought" pieces you might enjoy if you want to play with these ideas more for yourself.
