Legends and Myths: The Role of the Humble Educator Pitted Against Artificial Intelligence.

I relish moments of accomplishment and wonder in moments of failure when I have a chance to step back and evaluate. And, there is a special thing I do when I realize I just plain ruined life. Luckily, this is not one of those moments.

Recently, I used a Venn Diagram to compare myself to two artificial intelligence writing tools: Google Read & Write and Grammarly. All the while asking — What can be done to help students with writing?

It becomes riddled when I realize there are many demands on me as a teacher in the classroom.

In the classroom, there is a constant ring of the telephone that needs to be answered. In my classroom that phone is near the door, that often opens and shuts to allow access to the restroom or special visits from other school site persons who are genuinely, “sorry for the interruption.” Whether it is the phone or the door, the entire movement of the room stops in a cold stare. My requests to stay focused follow along with light chatter from students about something completely nonrelated. The grand finale, the heavy sigh of discouragement that the assignment did not vanish with the interloper.

Like many classrooms, there is a large gathering of students who read and write at below grade-level standards. They all have unique needs, and I am grateful for any level of assistance. Even if it comes artificially, as in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools.

This year’s question

This year I am exploring and attempting to participate in a conversation about what AI writing tools have to offer. In particular, I am exploring Google Read & Write and Grammarly’s free version. My previous post on this topic revealed disappointment in the expectations I had for Google Read & Write. This post will pit me side by side with Google Read & Write and Grammarly’s free version.

It is a good thing today I feel full of serotonin just in case comparing myself to artificial intelligence does not work in my favor.

Actually, the results are not too disheartening. I realize that in my Venn Diagram of the three entities (Google Read & Write, Grammarly, and myself), I represent a typical teacher in a typical classroom setting with a typical variety of students. With that in mind, I managed to maneuver myself around my Venn diagram with sufficient bullet points in my favor. Stepping back and looking at the array of bulleted features between Google Read & Write, Grammarly, and me — I came out on top.

A closer look at the two tools

A close look in the Venn diagram reveals unique features for Google Read & Write that sets apart from Grammarly and me. Google Read & Write has a stop and start on command feature when reading aloud and unlike me, does not get dissuaded by distractions. The read-aloud also allows for a highlight feature to follow along. The user can create and listen to voice notes. The user can even record themselves reading what is written and send it to the teacher via email. This feature is especially interesting as it reveals a mini-bio of the sender which includes his or her readability factor. I was pleased to notice my practice version came to 11.22. While I am not entirely certain what the “.22” represents, I was encouraged to have the 11 attached to a silly version of my reading skills.

Some notable qualities I share with Google Read & Write include an odd reading voice. Google Read & Write is completely monotone, while my voice sometimes crackles and reveals slips of the tongue with false starts. We both offer “speech to text”. Whether a student speaks into the Google Read & Write feature or tells me what they would like me to write when I am able to sit down with him or her, with slight glitches words will appear on the page.

Grammarly (free version) does not have read aloud functions. It does provide a readability score using tiny dots and cute emoji faces. In beta mode, Grammarly makes random appearances in my Outlook work email and some apps. It is especially helpful to have the icons that let me know how my text may sound: a tuxedo for formal, a plain tee for informal, a smiley face with hearts for admiring, and a cheerful face with glasses for informative. The dots next to the icons denotes the level of tone. I imagine some words set off certain icons more than there being a true read on whatever I have written.

The connections Grammarly & I share: both set goals, both let students know how his/her text sounds, both give one word to describe a tone, both check for plagiarism and both offer a writing handbook. Although, the last two mentioned most likely come from my suggestion for a student to use an AI resource.

The three of us together offer: unique feedback, basic to advanced grammar and punctuation error recognition, spell check, and word predict. We are all also not entirely intuitive. I hear students complain about teachers to some degree, and I often hear school counselors tell students how it takes some time to get to know the teacher. The same is true for any AI program — there is a getting to know “you” period.

Now me, on the other hand…

As a teacher, I have an ever-increasing list of uniquenesses that set me apart from AI. Albeit, they are not all great. I do have slips of the tongue while I read and false starts due to distractions or the occasional froggy throat. I may or may not have readily available reference materials jumping out of my head and, as a result, will have to inconvenience the student to search for some tool . My results take more time than AI. But the benefits that outweigh the quickness of Google Read & Write and Grammarly include…

I am great at using questions to elicit deeper thinking for students to consider in regards to their own writing. AI will just give away answers like bad candy at Halloween.

While Grammarly offers cute emojis to let the user know how he or she sounds, at best my facial expressions give me away for a fraction of a second before I catch it. In these cases, students learn to read me and learn to read the world around them. They can not do this with a heartless computer screen.

Speaking of hearts…

The advantage of the two components over me are the instant results. I cannot compete with that. But the AI version cannot compete with my heartbeat. Having a heartbeat and being human says a lot about the value of educators when pitted alongside AI. There is a social connection that comes when a teacher provides for a student. There are attached verbal cues and voice inflections that have the potential to make you laugh or send chills. I believe this is the reason words were invented in the first place. That will never be replaced with the use of AI.

Furthermore, in our current days of CoViD-19, we are seeing the tangible negative effects of relying solely on online features in areas like lack of accreditation, little to no face interaction, more work, the intense requirement for student self-discipline and self-direction, less accountability, and the higher drop out rate or at least no shows to class. AI on the whole negatively impacts a students’ ability to learn to work with people and develop empathy and connection.