Post #1897449

2026-05-02 03:31 UTC

“The irony of being forced to dumb down an essay about a story warning against the forced suppression of excellence was not lost on me. Or on my kid, who spent a frustrating afternoon removing words and testing sentences one at a time, trying to figure out what invisible tripwire the algorithm had set. The lesson the kid absorbed was clear: write less creatively, use simpler vocabulary, and don’t sound too good, because sounding good is now suspicious. At the time, I worried this was going to become a much bigger problem. That the fear of AI “cheating” would create a culture that actively punished good writing and pushed students toward mediocrity. I was hoping I’d be wrong about that. Turns out… I was not wrong.” https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/06/were-training-students-to-write-worse-to-prove-theyre-not-robots-and-its-pushing-them-to-use-more-ai/

Replies (7)

@ChemicalEyeGuy@mstdn.science 2026-05-02 12:13

@markmetz #AI is #clankers 🤖 all the way down, and that’s why ‘C student’ #wankers love 💕 it *so much!* #Resist #AIslop.

Open ##2005426
@Jimijamflimflam@mstdn.social 2026-05-02 12:55

They want an idiocracy where words and facts mean what the oligarchs say they mean. It dovetails nicely with Christian Nationalism. @markmetz

Open ##2005427
@WanderingHuman@cosocial.ca 2026-05-02 17:51

@markmetz @AnnaAnthro Interesting. My recent experience stepping into the audiobook narration world has been the opposite. The AI slop that immediately jumps out is simplistic, formulaic, and bland. The good writing stands out - real sentences and paragraphs, occasional grammar mistakes (or creative license), substance, etc.

Open ##2005428
@GranVegas@mastodon.social 2026-05-02 19:15

@markmetz Sounds suspiciously like "Newspeak." 1984 is alive and well in 2026.

Open ##2005429
@xoagray@tiggi.es 2026-05-02 19:30

@markmetz Year another reason to hate the hell out of “AI”. Even the “good” part of this story encourages kids to use “AI”. I wonder how much money Techdirt got paid to write this?

Open ##2005430
@mlanger@mastodon.world 2026-05-02 21:29

@markmetz @clew This whole problem with students using AI can be resolved by having them turn on version tracking as they work. I'm assuming they're using something like Microsoft Word which has the ability to periodically save documents. I think it would take more time to fake the creation of an original document than to actually create one.

Open ##2005445
@gimulnautti@mastodon.green 2026-05-02 21:31

@markmetz ”No we won’t change, the students will have to change”. This is the same as with regard to (not) regulating social media. Or age verification. There shall be no change to the platforms, there shall be no change to the school curriculums or ways of testing. All mitigation will be borne by those with the least power, whatever the damage. It’s absolute #conservatism: The out-group will have to change, while the in-group is celebrated for doing nothing!

Open ##2005449