David Buck

"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.

“When you allow a machine to summarize your reading, to generate the ideas for your essay, and then to write that essay, you’re not learning how to read, think, or write.“

Just in case you're reading abt concerns over the AI bubble bursting, @emilymbender.bsky.social & @alexhanna.bsky.social predicted the aftermath: more contingent laborers, doing more with less, and a "thick, sooty grime of limitless tech expansionism" that coats "creative industries." #AIResistance

Fantastic new essay on AI refusal from @dbuckedu.bsky.social! zeal.kings.edu/zeal/article...

#AIResistance ⬇️

A terrific starter pack that’s making the rounds again; proud to be on the roster #AIresistance #resistAI

That first incredulous "what?" made me cheer. Meanwhile, the disconnect between creatives and AI hypers grows to a chasm. #writersky #AI #edusky #writesky #AIresistance #AIrefusal

#AIResistance

My community college was one of the 1st institutions to adopt Canvas in 2012. We were very early adopters. It was pitched as a pedagogical-focused system designed to “get out of the way” of an instructor’s teaching approach. Never imagined that it now is set up to REPLACE that instructor!

Since the SAT essay became optional + scored by AI, I can't begin to tell you the number of people who have asked me why they should still teach writing, as if the only reason for kids to write is to score well on a standardized test. Also, this reveals how much College Board impacts practice.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Today's complaint about the AI in education discourse: Too much of it is framed around a future that is going to happen to us, as opposed to seeing the future as something we may have some agency to shape. I reject the deterministic view of AI, particularly genAI. It's a tool, not our master.

I appreciate this piece, but I want to correct the record on one point. I don't talk about LLMs as making "collages" but rather as making papier-mâché, and the difference matters! >> www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Had a great session of the #MoreThanWords virtual book club yesterday! A wonderful group of caring, compassionate educators hoping to guide their students through the ubiquitous sludge of GenAI. We focused on writing as thinking, a uniquely human endeavor rather than a transactional experience.

This “capitulation to inevitability” is certainly real, especially when FOMO and the press for innovative “AI literacy” is constantly in teachers’ faces. Been enjoying The AI Con by Bender & Hanna. The hype around AI serves those in power, not Ss & teachers. The VCs need a return on investment!

In my work with teachers, two beliefs about AI are becoming "common sense:" 1. AI is inevitable, resistance is futile. 2. Not including AI in a teaching + learning will hold students back in terms of career + college. Building permission structures for #AIResistance is urgent + critical.

"The work of ungrading is to push back on the culture of grades and quantitative assessment that reinforces hierarchies between students and teachers, while reducing both to a set of crude (often inscrutable) data points." www.jessestommel.com/the-practice...

We are 2️⃣ weeks away from the first session of the #MoreThanWords virtual book club on June 3rd (5-6 p.m. EST)! Join 7️⃣3️⃣ folks exploring how to center authentic writing/thinking in the age of AI. Author @biblioracle.bsky.social will be joining us! Register for FREE: forms.gle/AMUKNQc5egaf...

"[No] single theory seems to adequately explain all human motivation. The fact is that human beings in general and students in particular are complex creatures with complex needs and desires." ⎯Williams & Williams, Research in Higher Education Journal

I know this seems grim, but I'm here to testify that it is not hopeless, that most faculty do not feel this way and mostly just want a little help to navigate these things. I've delivered a couple dozen talks and sessions over the last 6 months & the energy to make necessary change is real.

Would you like to join 6️⃣8️⃣ thoughtful people in a relaxing summer reading group? Feel free to register for the #MoreThanWords virtual book club starting Tuesday, 6/5 from 5-6 p.m. (EST). @biblioracle.bsky.social (the author) plans to attend each session! Register HERE: tinyurl.com/cfndnhf2

Bear all of this in mind when someone starts parroting in your direction all the utopian and progressive-buzzword-laden talk about AI’s potentials. I’m looking at you, fellow academics.

Love yourself, love the world enough to think and learn 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-slop-educ...

Looking for some summer reading? Check out the FREE More Than Words virtual book club beginning in June! Join others actively considering how to center authentic writing/thinking in the age of AI. @biblioracle.bsky.social will be planning to join us for most sessions! forms.gle/ksGsyZjkzhwz...

Don’t let companies and people hide behind the “neutrality” of AI. AI programs and tools are far from neutral. They are specific tools created by specific people for specific political purposes.

Looking for some summer reading? Check out the FREE More Than Words virtual book club beginning in June! Join others actively considering how to center authentic writing/thinking in the age of AI. @biblioracle.bsky.social will be planning to join us for most sessions! forms.gle/ksGsyZjkzhwz...

In a recent #AIResistance presentation I made an off-the-cuff comment that I may want to explore more in depth—refusing GenAI tools in my comp courses has freed me from the AI arms race where every learning activity has to either (A) illustrate how “cool” AI is for Ss or (B) be totally AI-proof.

Much of my #AIResistance in college comp courses is rooted in what I would like my students to DO with their writing. "[T]teachers don't ask students to write essays since the world needs more student essays. The point of writing essays is to strengthen students' critical-thinking skills."

Am wondering how college profs using Gen-AI can square up ethically to what is happening to some of our international students on multiple campuses. How does endorsing a tool from a company aligned with student surveillance and harassment fit into anyone's pedagogical ethos?! #AIResistance

Well it happened—just received an unsolicited email to my college address from OpenAI abt their free offer of ChatGPT, just in time for the semester’s end. It’s true—higher ed is the next acquisition for AI companies, advertised as “learning” assistance. #AIResistance www.forbes.com/sites/danfit...

Anyone who thinks that because AI currently has energy use on par with data centers for other sectors we don’t need to worry about environmental impacts should pay attention to what tech people are saying about future energy demand.

AI companies are playing education research again. Now Anthropic has a report out analysing a million students' use of Claude via "Bloom's taxonomy". Conclusion? it mostly looks like student cheating and cognitive offloading but it won't stop them pushing AI into HE www.anthropic.com/news/anthrop...

I shared this post in my AI-Refusal presentation today. Spot on! The same FOMO phenomenon as the MOOC craze. Higher Ed throws money at the first shiny tech object that crosses its path. bsky.app/profile/dbuc...

A learning event that can never be replicated by any GenAI tool! For the love of learning . . .

One small nudge that I make in my #AIResistance pedagogy is the use of "Completion Statements" for student blog postings. We make an ethical agreement that we've resisted the use of GenAI in our writing⎯for the sake of our writing improvement & developing our unique writing voices, warts & all!

Been thinking about how good this point is⎯thanks for this! Reminds me of one of my presentation slides. I'm planning to read Dan's book. ⬇️ #AIResistance