This letter addresses a hypothetical undergraduate student who is on the brink of outsourcing their creative writing assignment to ChatGPT. I argue that the student should not do so for three reasons. They are (1) that creativity is valuable not only because it results in new products, but also because it necessarily involves learning; (2) that creativity offers a path to figuring ourselves out; and (3) that creativity enables meaningful connection with others. As I show, these reasons generaliz…
Read moreThis letter addresses a hypothetical undergraduate student who is on the brink of outsourcing their creative writing assignment to ChatGPT. I argue that the student should not do so for three reasons. They are (1) that creativity is valuable not only because it results in new products, but also because it necessarily involves learning; (2) that creativity offers a path to figuring ourselves out; and (3) that creativity enables meaningful connection with others. As I show, these reasons generalize beyond creative writing assignments. They support the conclusion that students (and the rest of us) should do other creative things instead of outsourcing them to AI as well.
