We have all the time in the world to experiment with tech as it becomes increasingly more widespread, easy to use, and cheaper.

And the classroom—this randomly diverse group of people—doesn’t exist for everybody, and we all need it at all points in our lives.

As an English teacher, basically now the core “human” teacher in every American’s education, I am concerned more than ever with humans thinking with other humans more than anything.

But this is Hsu’s definition of what came before college: “Until we’re eighteen, we go to school because we have to, studying the Second World War and reducing fractions while undergoing a process of socialization. We’re essentially learning how to follow rules.”

My reaction: Whoa.

There is plenty of time to learn tools and classes and majors specialized for them, but the only time you will be stuck in a room with upwards of 25 different perspectives is in a classroom. And that’s a wonderful part about our public K-12 system.

What we do need to worry about is that students consider the ethics and morals of using tools.

Plus, learning with other humans will always trump what we are going to get out of tools themselves.

As a teacher, I have to say that we need more people in whatever field to share their process, especially in a world of AI with its allure of “easy” fixes/solutions/products. Young people need to see what a gratifying, fun, and successful creative process is truly like.

I have to admit, as a regular human that loves tools, I have a soft spot for such things, though I recoil at the thought.

But it’s things like THIS that I LOVE. Grant Snider is someone who makes art and shares how they do it. (Also why I adore reading Austin Kleon.)

Reality is always more grey than we think. But, yes, tools can be used incorrectly. Very easily, in fact. And it is our job as teachers to show this and not confidently dismiss a tool because of its flaws.

To examine the complexities of life in a safe space, that is what education should be for.

These two pieces of writing created a ton of unhelpful virtue signaling and have since been, if not debunked, but caveated in ways in which the focused-on-tool is not the main culprit of negative effects.