I worry about my students’ writing. Many professors do these days. A 2025 Inside Higher Ed survey found that 85% of undergraduates use AI in their coursework, and a large chunk simply let bots write essays on their behalf.
This has all made me very old fashioned. Every one of my courses is now held tech-free, and since 2024, exams in the Psych One Program I direct at Stanford University have been conducted via blue books. The bound paper booklets in which students hand-write their responses to test questions have surged in popularity during the AI explosion.
Why bother to make students write? There are many reasons, but I want to list three, which to me range from not at all convincing to absolutely vital.
In the past, writing was at the heart of a college education, in part because it was a vocational skill. Across almost every major and profession, reports must be written, emails sent, ideas shared, and typing done. These thousands of words might not have inspired but still needed to be created by hands and minds.
I no longer think this is a compelling reason to make college students write, or encourage anyone else to. If most meetings could have been emails, most emails can be automated. Workers, especially from younger generations, will find little incentive for crafting artisanal, small-batch memos.
