Have *I* been replaced by *AI*?
Obvs. But now what?
I didn’t actually USE the AI response in my student comments, but it’s clear that I can no longer keep my head in the sand on this issue. In creative writing classes I was rarely worried about the plagiarism questions that plagued other classes, but there’s no avoiding AI. So one of my goals this semester is to learn more about AI, to have open conversations with students about how and when and why they use it, both in the context of education and grades and in the world of writing and publishing, and also all the bigger ethical questions about privacy, data sourcing, bias, the environment, etc. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
Thanks for reading!
-Kelcey
Some actual news in this so-called newsletter
My art exhibition, “Words in Flight,” is showing at the Conkling Gallery at Minnesota State University, Mankato through Feb 6, and I’ll be there to give a talk this Thursday.
This summer I’m teaching a weeklong workshop on Visual Storytelling at Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee, Tennessee! Who wants to join me? Info here.
My graphic memoir The Keeper is a Choose to Read Ohio Book for 2025!
Thanks for reading The Habit of Art by Kelcey Ervick, a Substack Featured Publication (twice!). I love writing and drawing these posts and am grateful to everyone who follows along. I’m a writer and professor in Indiana. If you like this newsletter, you might like my graphic memoir, The Keeper, which was featured in the New York Times Book Review’s Holiday Gift Guide and is 40% off at the place that rhymes with Scam-a-zon. I co-edited a book on making comics and visual stories, which you can find here: The Field Guide to Graphic Literature (or here). I have other books too! Thanks for again for being here.
KelceyErvick.com
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Still here? You must want more!
Here are two recent posts and one older one:
I have already discussed my art department at a publishing house being replaced by AI and having to fire a dozen employees on my own newlsetter. I go nuts when I hear art people tell me to stop exaggerating the effects and being afraid of AI. The charm and grace of your artwork could not ever be replaced by AI. I hope.
Thank you Kelcey, endlessly fascinating, as always. My grandfather, born in 1897, turned to my grandmother while they were on their buggy pulled by Jasper and Hazard and said, "Cars are never going to catch on. What, are they going to put a filling station in EVERY town?" We are in the very beginning of another disruption in technology and it is difficult to know where it will lead us. My grandpa Paul did indeed say those words to my grandma Silvia on their honeymoon while driving their horse and buggy as a car drove by.