Feeling Demotivated by AI

[Cattenberg]

I used to like studying and have completed several courses in my spare time. Some were with the aim of improving my career prospects and others were just because I was intrigued by a topic and wanted to learn more.

Now I'm wondering if most study is worth it. If AI is better at researching and writing essays than many university students, what's the point of most degree courses? If AI can translate texts well within seconds, what's the point of studying a foreign language?

I don't know what to do. I'm not very practical or good with my hands, so I'd make a terrible hairdresser or builder (or surgeon, come to that). I like learning, but I'm struggling to see the point of it. Am I right to be so pessimistic?

Just me, then?

Why not learn how to harness AI instead?

But I don't agree it's better at research and writing essays. Well, it's actually not, so there's nothing to agree with really.

We're a couple of years off it being able to emulate human writing and research.

It can do some maths. But still often hallucinates and gets things wrong.

I agree that it gets some of its facts wrong. The AI summaries on Google that I've seen are a mixture of facts and misinformation. However, half of my colleagues use ChatGPT for emails, so I feel as though it will be fully accepted soon. I also agree that I need to learn to use AI, even though I don't like it or trust it.