This week I did a little experiment with my students and AI. I asked my students to copy and paste a prompt into an AI tool of their choice. The prompt I provided instructed the AI platform to write a detailed and convincing story about students participating in a treasure hunt around the school. 

The resulting stories were quite elaborate. They involved dusty old maps, clues, coordinates, and secret passages. Afterwards, we read some of the stories aloud together. The kids enjoyed them, and we talked about the details, the creativity, and how the stories – once it was in our heads – became like memories of an actual event. 

So, with that idea in mind, I told the students that since we all now had a vivid memory of a treasure hunt in our minds, that we wouldn’t need to actually do a real treasure hunt. 

The reaction was immediate.

“WHAT??!!!”

“No! We have to do it!”

“That isn’t the same!” 

“We want to actually do it!”

And there it was. The real lesson I wanted them to discover suddenly became very obvious.

The AI version of the treasure hunt story wasn’t the same as the real experience.

I asked the students if the real experience is better than the AI version, then what does that tell us about the school work we create ourselves?

Some students have become convinced that AI-generated work is better than their own work. The AI vocabulary is more sophisticated, the grammar is perfect, and the overall presentation looks more professional. And so the temptation is for students to think, “Why would I bother all doing this myself?”

But I reminded my students of something they had just demonstrated. They had chosen the real experience over the AI-generated version. So why should our writing be any different?

If we believe that real life is better than an AI-generated simulation of real life, then we also need to recognize the value of real thinking and real creation.

Sure, our writing might not be perfect. A first draft might be messy. The vocabulary might not be as sophisticated as ChatGPT’s. And that is okay because we made it.

Experiencing the process of creation is how we learn. It’s not about the finished product.

And, thanks to this AI story exercise, my students have begun to understand the difference. They overwhelmingly wanted the real thing over a perfect AI-generated ‘memory’ of it. 

So, in the end, we did the actual treasure hunt. Kids got lost and confused and were sweating out in the hot sun. And they loved it. 

Ed X!