More and more in life, I am seeing everyone around me take the easy way, especially with the rise of ChatGPT. Why take two hours to write something when you can take a short cut and have it done in two minutes? But for the few people reading this and thinking to themselves, well, that’s not me, it’s your peers. According to a Forbes article written by Michael T. Nietzel, one in five students use ChatGPT to complete their schoolwork.
For whoever I am accidentally calling out, your justification is no doubt: I don’t need to know how to compare two classic pieces of literature; I’m not going to be a writer. Now that may be true; however, you are not only missing out on the content of the material you are supposed to be learning, but also the valuable life skills these assignments teach you. That essay you didn’t even read before turning in a minute before the due date could have given you a space to practice and improve your writing skills, but more importantly, you are missing out on the joys of having created something yourself.
There is a notable difference in dopamine, at least for me, when I do or make something myself. Even if it’s as simple as doing the dishes or cleaning my room, there is a little high that comes from doing the work myself, from accomplishing even the most mundane of tasks. If I had a maid or something that cleaned my room or did the dishes for me, it would take away that joy. The same concepts apply to ChatGPT writing your essay or doing your homework. You can turn something that was meant to be a tool into just a smarter way of cheating.
If this article has resonated with you, you are probably looking for an alternative to ChatGPT. I mean, if it is that bad, what else is there? I’m here to tell you that ChatGPT isn’t the problem; the problem is that you are not taking the hard way. Ok, but what is the point? What if I’m going to put in a whole bunch of work for nothing? I guarantee it is going to be hard at first, but the more you exercise whatever skill you’re trying to avoid, it’s slowly going to become easier and easier until it becomes second nature. It is like how in sports the more you practice or workout, the stronger and better you become. It is the same thing with your brain: the more you use it, the faster and smarter it becomes.
After all of that, you won’t need to rely on things like ChatGPT to get your work done. You can do it yourself.