Recently, Peter Biles noted that AI is forcing the return of writing by hand in the classroom:

Educators across the country are faced with two options: Either allow students to use AI in their writing/learning processes or start getting creative about how to keep these technologies at bay. One way that teachers are opting for the latter choice is through moving away from the take-home assignment or essay and having students write primarily by hand and primarily in class.

Well, good. When I was young, we often had to write 45-minute long exams in class (by hand). In college it was three hours. Why? Well, for one thing, the prowling proctor’s eye prevented young Touchdown from getting his girlfriend En-Dash to write the exam. Today, it would prevent him from getting Chat-cetera to write it.

Why did everyone forget this? Now, we are told, the United States has spent over $30 billion on replacing textbooks and such with computers. And the result? “This massive investment has resulted in the first generation in modern history to be less cognitively capable than the generation before.”

Congratulations?

True, no one believes that Touchdown is a future candidate for the Nobel for Literature or Physics. But he can’t play football forever and he may as well learn to be literate for the rest of his life.

The basic issue is this: We humans are both body and mind. Learning to write is part of learning to think as a human being. We struggle with the pencil or pen until our bodies begin to express what our minds are learning and thinking. Or … we don’t — and the results show.

If people think literacy is hard today, they should have been kids back when we had to manage inkwells and learn to fill and use a fountain pen. But the goal was the development of mental acuity and dexterity, which should go hand in hand.

One other thing: With all the information that’s out there today, including multiple attempts to manipulate and control us, we must learn to avoid even more the easy blather escape route that a chatbot offers.

Note: Some even argue that taking notes by hand is better than typing. Maybe so but I’d like to see more data on that one. Meanwhile, taking these problems seriously is an excellent first step.