Shortcuts

As far as one of my professors was concerned the worst invention of all time was the Xerox machine. His reasoning: while moveable type made the wide dissemination of knowledge possible, the Xerox machine made it easy to copy information without interacting with it. “When you read a book, or listen and take notes, you must engage your mind. If you just make a copy, nothing happens up here.” He pointed to his head.

The use of a copy machine often sidesteps the learning process. And I can attest that multiple copies dutifully filed away will not guarantee that policies and procedures will be followed or even understood. My dad once told me that it’s better to discuss and agree on plans rather than have them end up in a drawer somewhere, out of sight, out of mind. A copy machine might help us keep records, but it will not necessarily change people’s behavior.

Most “labor-saving” devices have a downside. My professor made his point before the worldwide web, email, text messaging, social media, data centers, and AI. It seems to me the lowly Xerox machine now has a lot of competition for all-time worst invention. Not because these inventions are bad, but because humans have always been inclined to take shortcuts. Who wants to do things the hard way when there is an easier way?

Intellectual Shortcuts. Now we have professionals who can’t write a report or an email without AI and students who rely on AI tools to complete their assignments. There have been notorious AI citations of fake research and fake court cases. And we have an ever-increasing demand for vast data centers to make our time and labor-saving tools possible. Meanwhile, these shortcuts might eventually come at a cost beyond money or the fear of missing out.

There have always been some students who have tried to take the easiest courses from the easiest professors. We used to call this “the path of least resistance.” Yet, recent studies have shown that this generation of college students lags far behind the cohorts of the past. Illiteracy and innumeracy are on the rise for these students. But their thought process is not new. Many years ago, we had a few students who told us they believed the goal was to get the highest grades by “any means possible.” Now we have AI. And rampant addiction to hand-held screens.

Time Shortcuts. In the faculty lunchroom, we used to joke about apologizing to certain students: “I’m sorry my course is getting in the way of your social life.” That was before all the distractions of the past 20 years. Our old concerns seem quaint now. I can understand why states are banning smart phones from public schools and some colleges are getting back to SAT requirements.

We want quick and easy one-step solutions to complex problems. Some think a wall will fix immigration. Some think tariffs will fix trade imbalances. Some think more drilling is all it takes to bring energy prices down. Others think war is the only way to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. One demolishes things without warning, so he won’t need to ask permission to build something new in their place. Even so, we are impatient. It used to take a few lifetimes to build a cathedral. Now we want projects to be done in a few years or even a few weeks. I’m reminded that if it took years to get into a bad situation, it would likely take years to get out of it. Sometimes there aren’t any shortcuts.

Cost Shortcuts. As much as my professor warned us that nothing happens in our heads when we take shortcuts, the worst-case scenario is when something bad happens if we cut corners: the ship will sink, the plane will crash, the bridge will fall, or the building will collapse, and people will be injured or killed. If we rush to a cheap solution, we will not confront the real problems and therefore we will not solve them. Further, if we blindly take the word of our AI tools, substituting their artificial intelligence for our own, what will become of human intelligence and human wisdom?

The point of college, perhaps the point of life, is to exercise our capacity to learn and grow, to develop our judgement and discernment. This process is much more important than acquiring mere knowledge, or earning grades, certification, and degrees. We must learn to control the “intelligence” we have invented. If no one can do this, because everyone has chosen shortcuts, our invention may make us its servants, or even its pets.