Last Tuesday, October 17, faculty in English joined with colleagues from across the university and beyond K-State to explore “AI and the Future.”
Our department’s contribution to the three-day symposium, in partnership with the Writing Center and the Office of Honor and Integrity: a panel session on “AI and the Writer’s Voice.”
As the title of our panel session suggests, our speakers were attending to the role of the writer in relation to generative AI — and particularly to the role of the student writer who is navigating its resources and opportunities.
While this session might have seemed a leap from the previous day’s talks on AI and computer science, the skills of coding and writing, as Marit J. MacArthur explained recently for Inside Higher Ed (28 Sept 2023), “face a convergent future,” with “critical editing” as the link between the two.
If you missed the panel session, the recording is available from the “AI and the Future” symposium web site (direct link to video here).
Many thanks to Katie Conrad (English, KU), whose work on Critical AI explores some of the guardrails we may need in place as we tap the potential of generative AI, as well as Camilla Roberts (Office of Honor and Integrity, K-State) and Theresa Merrick (Writing Center, K-State) for their presentations — and many thanks to our audience for their engagement and to the symposium’s organizers for their hard work!
— Karin Westman, Department Head
K-State English 