That was the first question I ever asked AI.
asserted
I → ask → AI
I was a sophomore in high school, stuck on a homework assignment about The Great Gatsby—until my Dad called me over to his computer, itching to show me a new technology called ChatGPT.
asserted
Dad → stick → technology
I gave it the prompt for my essay.
asserted
I → give → essay
In seconds, the screen was filled with flawlessly written ways to compare myself to Gatsby’s narrator.
asserted
screen → fill → narrator
But something didn’t feel right about taking the chatbot’s answer and pretending it was my own.
asserted
it → feel → answer
I challenged myself to ignore its suggestions and come up with my own ideas.
asserted
I → challenge → ideas
Within weeks, my high school was buzzing about AI.
asserted
school → buzz → AI
Some of my fellow students in Mr. Brown’s AP Lit class used it to summarize Robert Frost poems, without bothering to read them.
asserted
Some → use → them
I remained torn.
asserted
I → remain → ?
An extra hour to chill at home would’ve been nice, but Frost’s poetry wasn’t especially dense.
asserted
poetry → chill → home
Plus, Mr. Brown was my favorite teacher, and I felt he was owed the effort of doing the reading myself.
asserted
he → feel → reading
We all got similar grades on the assignment, which annoyed me.
asserted
which → get → me
But in our seminar conversation, I could tell I had a deeper understanding of Frost’s work.
uncertain
I → tell → work
In 2024, I got into my dream school, Duke.
asserted
I → get → school
I couldn’t wait.
asserted
I → wait → ?
I longed for the classic collegiate experience my parents described: staying up late discussing philosophy in dorm rooms, reading classic literature in mortared lecture halls, asking life’s biggest questions in the birthplace of scientific discoveries.
asserted
parents → long → discoveries
I quickly learned that at a school like Duke, efficiency matters as much as accomplishment.
asserted
efficiency → learn → accomplishment
The faster you complete your coursework, the more time you can put into the extracurricular activities designed to give you an advantage when you enter the work world.
asserted
you → complete → world
Before classes even began, students were running around campus in suits, rushing pre-professional clubs with lower acceptance rates than Duke itself.
asserted
students → begin → Duke
Talk of summer internships sprouted around the 8-week mark.
asserted
Talk → sprout → mark
The question on everyone’s lips was how to get an A while spending as little time on their schoolwork as possible.
asserted
question → get → schoolwork
It’s always been possible to cut corners or even cheat.
asserted
It → cut → corners
But it used to take some level of effort, craft, and intentional deceit.
asserted
it → use → effort
AI makes it frictionless, adding a game-changing weapon to the achievement arms race, the effects of which reverberate beyond the classroom.
asserted
effects → make → classroom
Students who offload their coursework to AI can devote themselves to the clubs, internships, and leadership roles that become the standard everyone is measured against when interviewing for jobs.
asserted
everyone → offload → jobs
AI tilts the playing field against students who care about using their four precious college years for self-discovery and intellectual exploration.
asserted
who → tilt → discovery
As my homework piled up, I noticed others around me using AI.
asserted
others → pile → AI
They had to know something I didn’t.
asserted
I → have → something
So I made a rule: I would use AI for busywork, but never the subjects I loved.
asserted
I → make → but
Classmates I admired taught me the art of effective prompts, and I halved my homework time.
asserted
I → admire → time
A boring worksheet that would take my human brain two hours to complete took my augmented intellect only 45 minutes.
asserted
that → take → minutes
The arrangement felt perfect: I cut out mindless tasks to preserve my mind for more important assignments.
asserted
I → feel → assignments
But as the year progressed, it didn’t take long for my rule to crumble.
asserted
rule → progress → ?
First, I used AI to summarize a dense reading for my philosophy class, a subject I loved, so I could devote more time to writing a contemplative essay.
uncertain
I → use → essay
Then, intoxicated by my new efficiency, I asked AI to help me craft an outline for the essay, so I could concentrate on honing my word choice.
uncertain
I → intoxicate → choice
It nailed the nuances I struggled to capture.
asserted
I → nail → nuances
I filled in the chatbot’s outline like a paint-by-numbers and submitted the results.
asserted
I → fill → results
I felt proud of the A I received, as if I had unlocked the future of productivity.
asserted
I → feel → productivity
For my next assignment, I went to the machine first.
asserted
I → go → machine
Judgment day came when I got assigned a paper on political polarization.
asserted
I → come → polarization
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
