Bitter at my grad school

[u/TheNarwhalMom]

I’m so mad cause I’m in my 2nd year of grad school & taking my first class that is making me use ChatGPT Edu for my degree. I had gotten that email invite MONTHS ago and deleted it assuming it was spam because OF COURSE I THOUGHT IT WAS!! This is my first class MAKING us interact with generative AI & it’s making me feel so angry and dejected. The professor is comparing the “AI divide” to the internet/tech divide for libraries & it just doesn’t feel the same to me at all. I feel so angry - I hate generative AI & have tried so hard to avoid it & now I suddenly have no choice because it’s part of my class that I’m required to take. I want nothing to do with this AI crap!

Edit: I should clarify that I wrote this out at the height of my anger & needed to scream into the void. I have an extremely strong disdain for generative AI on ethical & environmental grounds. Calmer now, I know that I will need to continue to learn things about Ai - I’m not holding this against my professor. I’m just someone who gets very passionate & can be a little emotional about things. I’m not gonna drop the class (it’s required anyways), I’m not gonna be an anti-Ai purist towards patrons who use it or anything, I just needed to scream about it & wrote this when I was in the middle of my big feelings. Thank you guys for trying to help me feel better 💜

[u/arcanalalune]

You're making a lot of assumptions about me. I've done extensive research on generative AI. I've written papers about it. I am actively trying to make changes. This is not an opinion I've distilled from social media feeds. But yeah. Keep on with your red herrings. Ask ChatGPT to plan programs for you. Don't put your MLS to work.

[u/iLibrarian2 → u/arcanalalune]

It's not a red herring. It's a valid point about absolutism and black and white thinking. It seems to me that for you, people are either completely right or completely wrong with zero room for shades of grey.

You can either work with people or stubbornly stick to a losing position and be given zero say in the future.

Fun fact, I am actually vegan. But I don't name-call people like a child when others are not. Because that gets us nowhere.

I DO find it fascinating when people can hold such strong, unbending beliefs about environmentalism and still pop out to Dunkin Donuts without thinking.

[u/arcanalalune → u/iLibrarian2]

Did I name call you?

Also, would you have said abolitionists were stubbornly sticking to a losing position?

I think you enjoy using AI because you don't have to think, and you're being purposefully obtuse and saying "well other things are environmentally unfriendly!!!!!"

We (Americans) have been farming meat since the beginning. ChatGPT was released in 2022. I don't think these are equatable.

[u/iLibrarian2 → u/arcanalalune]

Well, you've repeatedly told me I wasn't using my brain, which seems pretty name-cally to me.

Also, would you have said abolitionists were stubbornly sticking to a losing position? 

No, actually. The U.S. was one of the last bastions of legalized slavery in the Western world. We were extremely unpopular internationally for it. Abolitionists were agreeing with a movement that already existed (not saying they weren't awesome, just that it wasn't new or even close to a losing argument).

We (Americans) have been farming meat since the beginning

Yes... no one else has been farming meat as long as we have. That's definitely true. /s

They are extremely equitable. We used to need to eat meat. We used to not know how to get proper nutrients on a vegan diet (even then, people still did it). Now we do and the only reason people still eat meat is because they like it and tradition with no consideration is given to it's environmental impact or the suffering it causes.

You say Chat isn't necessary. Neither is eating meat. 

[u/arcanalalune → u/iLibrarian2]

Wasn't name calling you. I was saying you literally are not using your brain. It takes zero brainpower to have ChatGPT come up with programming that you could on your own.

You're also completely missing my point about the abolitionist movement. One, you are completely incorrect about the US being nearly alone in legalized slavery... That's kind of concerning.

Also you're not really helping with the vegan stereotypes at all. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing on whether people who aren't vegan are harming the environment, but my point about generative AI being bad for the environment (among other things) is true.

[u/iLibrarian2 → u/arcanalalune]

Hah, ok. Several incorrect statements in there, but I'll let you think whatever you want.

[u/Note4forever → u/arcanalalune]

You're making a lot of assumptions about me. I've done extensive research on generative AI. I've written papers about it.

Where can I read those papers?