{"data":{"ID":1190,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1697922858,"CreatorID":79,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Balancing Tradition and Technology: The Dilemma of Knowledge Constitution in AI-Assisted Writing","Handle":"balancing_tradition_and_technology--the_dilemma_of_knowledge_constitution_in_ai-assisted_writing","ShortDescription":"In this conversation, we will discuss the process of knowledge constitution in tradition and AI-driven writing practices. Drawing on Writing to Learn research, I will explore how human beings develop new knowledge and insight through first and second learning processes in the writing process. First, writers learn through memory work and data retrieval. Second, writers learn through sentence and paragraph creation. Thus, if our students turn over increasing amounts of sentence and paragraph generation to AI, they run the risk of missing out on key opportunities to learn. And yet, we cannot hide from AI. Know this fact, we can begin to develop a more \"conscious\" method of use.","Description":"Here are the major findings of my research to date:\r\n\r\nMore traditional modes of writing will always coexist with AI-infused modes of expression to the extent that users will still need to fill in prompts with original text or use original text as the basis for AI generative process. In these contexts, writers will need to evaluate proportionality of generative AI use in light of the nature of specific tasks, genres, functions, and purposes.\r\n\r\nWhat kinds of writing tasks can be turned over to generative AI processes? What kinds of writing need more human supervision or need to be written in an entirely unassisted way?\r\n\r\nThe difficulty of the matter is that we probably will not be able to know ahead of time in an a priori or axiomatic sense which writing tasks will be truly knowledge-constituting and which will not be. Even the most perfunctory piece of writing under the right conditions has the possibility of yielding a dramatic insight if not from a field-changing perspective, then at the very least from an internal psychological perspective. Except perhaps\u2026   We all can fill in that blank.\r\n\r\nCertainly, the solution here is not to hide from generative AI or avoid using it as a writing tool. Instead, what I suggest is that we think very carefully about what might be lost and what might be gained by using AI in particular cases.\r\n\r\nWhat proportion of our work do we want to turn over to AI? (Here, the questions of volition and choice are critical.) What proportion do we want to retain? Where in the writing process do we feel like we generate the most original thoughts or creative insights? What steps do we need to create a writing practice that is knowledge-constituting?","Link":["https:\/\/nickpotkalitsky.substack.com\/"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"I will design a learning experience that asks participants to use writing as a process of knowledge constitution. \r\n\r\nParticipants will engage in both traditional and AI-infused writing processes around a challenge or problem.\r\n\r\nParticipants will qualitatively evaluate their experiences as more or less knowledge constituting. \r\n\r\nI am anticipating that those involved in AI-infused writing will learn a lot, but the knowledge building will primarily focus on skills and competencies related to working with the medium in question (AI).\r\n\r\nBut I am very much excited to have my own hypothesis disproven.","Presenter":["Nick Potkalitsky"],"PresenterAffiliation":["The Miami Valley School"],"PresenterEmail":["nicolas.potkalitsky@mvschool.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":160,"ScheduleLocationID":35,"SubmitterID":79,"AdditionalComments":"Nick Potkalitsky, Ph.D.\r\nNick\u2019s dedication as an educator and researcher is directed towards the continuous enhancement of research methodologies, instructional techniques, and assessment systems in areas spanning language arts, history, media studies, and digital humanities.\r\n\r\nPresently, Nick holds the position of a high school language arts teacher at a small independent school in Ohio, where he actively contributes to the school's endeavors in crafting an AI-responsive curriculum and policy. In his prior roles, he has been actively involved in teaching and curriculum development across various educational levels, private and public, ranging from middle school to college and graduate school settings. His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in the Classics, a Master's in Education, a Ph.D. in American Literature, two teaching licenses in Ohio, and a Montessori certificate.","LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":11}}