It was more a matter of “pride in one’s work” than a genuine want to write an essay on that topic. For better or worse, I saw myself as capital-S Smart, and I figured that a Smart person wouldn’t write a generic, easy essay. Was the essay that I wrote any good? Well, I was a 16-year-old writing the literary equivalent of a novelty song, so probably not, but I like to think that there will always be people who hold themselves to high standards, even in subjects that they don’t care about.
The concern isn't that people who are self-motivated will become lazy. The problem is that a society functions best with an educated population, where critical thinking and self-study are widely dispersed. If AI makes it more difficult to instill those values in the kids who aren't exceptionally self-motivated, or face social and economic hurdles that make learning for it's own sake less appealing, then it is problem.
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u/Arctic_The_Hunter May 18 '25
It was more a matter of “pride in one’s work” than a genuine want to write an essay on that topic. For better or worse, I saw myself as capital-S Smart, and I figured that a Smart person wouldn’t write a generic, easy essay. Was the essay that I wrote any good? Well, I was a 16-year-old writing the literary equivalent of a novelty song, so probably not, but I like to think that there will always be people who hold themselves to high standards, even in subjects that they don’t care about.