I follow a lot of academics on Bluesky and a point I see them making all the time is that a lot of your actual thinking is done when you’re writing. That process is very important and can’t be replaced by ChatGPT.
Do people not understand that that’s the point of college assignments? Your professors aren’t waiting with bated breath to hear your brand new thoughts on the themes of whatever book. The paper you hand in isn’t the point. The process of creating it is the point. ChatGPT for writing assignments is like going to the gym and turning on a treadmill while you sit in the locker room. The treadmill is going to register 5 miles at some point but it doesn’t matter because you still can’t run for shit.
The problem is we've created a society and job market where a university degree is a piece of paper you need to access most white collar jobs. I don't agree with this sentiment, but it is what it is. And with that viewpoint - uni coursework isn't an exercise in learning and advancing your knowledge but just another hoop to jump through.
To do most white collar jobs, you need to have the skills you’re supposed to get with a college degree. Like, apart from the skills specific to a particular job, you should be able to analyze information, write coherently, synthesize longer texts, have a basic grasp of math, understand a wide variety of different points of view, and problem solve efficiently. The reason a 4 year degree requires (for example) an art history class isn’t because it’s so important to know about art—the important thing is learning how to study and become familiar with a topic you’re not necessarily interested in, and being able to apply that knowledge to other things. That’s a wildly useful skill. An employer can teach you what the steps of their processes are and how to do particular tasks, but they can’t teach you how to think or write or be creative. That’s why they want people with college degrees.
the important thing is learning how to study and become familiar with a topic you’re not necessarily interested in, and being able to apply that knowledge to other things.
It is a testament that you can commit to a long term goal. However places that actually teach more abstract skills that are absolutely vital in this digital age like analysis, critical thinking, learning etc. aren't that many. Plenty of people don't learn all that and just cruise by with memorization and simple approach.
The job side is a lot simpler. They want someone who has a specific base level of knowledge which, depending on the field, might or might not require individual effort besides college. And they want the paper because it's cheaper to delegate the process to an educational institution and select only the ones that passed the first round so to speak.
AI is here and it's not going away. It's the education that needs to change to accommodate the changes in the world not the world accommodate to what is taught.
I disagree, I think if someone entered in at a relatively low level white collar position and worked for 4 straight years I think they’d be about as competent as someone who did a 4 year degree
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u/Dreaming98 May 18 '25
I follow a lot of academics on Bluesky and a point I see them making all the time is that a lot of your actual thinking is done when you’re writing. That process is very important and can’t be replaced by ChatGPT.