The words "fake or real" appear in typescript on a white pay in a manual typewriter.

Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Fakery

BY DAVID PICKUS AND ROBERT NIEBUHR Artificial Intelligence (AI) is just a tool, they say. For universities, the idea is that this tool enhances learning. Furthermore, the promise continues that AI is a great equalizer that will increase access to knowledge. Our objection to AI in universities does not center on the march of technology,…

a large tsunami wave swells up from the ocean

Don’t Believe the AI Hype

BY JONATHAN REES Do you remember MOOCs? I realize that that question is itself cliche now, but if you do remember massive open online courses you almost certainly remember the quote about how in the future there were only going to be ten universities and that “There’s a tsunami coming.” Needless to say, there are…

Presenter stands in a classroom in front of a whiteboard with a screen showing presentation slides to the right

Fighting Weaponized AI in Higher Education

BY BRITT S. PARIS, LINDSAY WEINBERG, AND EMMA MAY Tomorrow, July 23, the Trump administration plans to release an “AI action plan” that reflects the White House’s priorities for expanding the artificial intelligence industry. It builds on one of the first directives from the second Trump administration, Executive Order (EO) 14179, “Removing Barriers to American…

Crumpled white notebook paper has blue lines and a big F with a circle around it made by a red marker

Set a Good Example

BY JONATHAN REES I have seen exactly one use of AI of which I actually approve. My friend Alegria fed our faculty handbook into NotebookLM, a Google product that can set bounds on what your artificial intelligence digests. Our handbook is an absolute monstrosity. It gives me a headache just to think about it because…

"AI" appears in blue letters within a blue box with a black background and blue, intersecting lines behind it that suggest networks

Why You Should Be Unrelentingly Hostile to AI

BY JONATHAN REES This post is about the biggest threat to the jobs of college professors in America today. No, not that guy. Not the guy with the chain saw either. I’m writing about that other subject that you’re sick of reading about because it just makes you depressed. I first wrote about AI for…