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  "path": "/articles/thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-ai",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-21T17:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.mcsweeneys.net",
  "tags": [
    "With apologies to Wallace Stevens."
  ],
  "textContent": "_With apologies to Wallace Stevens._\n\n- - -\n\n**I**\nMeeting with the academic dean\nI asked him to share with faculty\nHow admin are using AI.\n\n**II**\nA colleague shares a short story:\nKafka sitting in a sales meeting\nFor AI.\n\n**III**\nAI can help faculty take\nBurdensome things off their plate,\nSays the dean who doesn’t use it\nOr know how the plates will empty.\n\n**IV**\nStudents want faculty to teach them\nResponsible use of AI.\nStudents refuse to read AI statements in\nSyllabuses.\n\n**V**\nThe thinker and the thought\nAre one.\nThe thinker and the AI thought partner\nAre less than one.\n\n**VI**\nO slumped and gray writing professors,\nWhy do you imagine human-filled writing?\nDo you not see that AI is the future?\n\n**VII**\nA philosopher writes doggerel for\nAn English professor\nFrustrated about the lack of leadership\nRegarding AI in higher ed.\n\n**VIII**\nI know what transformative learning can be,\nAnd I know that outsourcing\nWonder—perhaps to a generative AI—\nTransforms no one\nAnd leaves landscapes\nRavaged.\n\n**IX**\nCopilot will protect your data\nFrom outsiders;\nYour campus owns your private\nQuestions.\n\n**X**\nI asked ChatGPT to review\nMy thyroid levels,\nAnd was prepared for the doctor’s phone call.\n\n**XI**\nIs this strong student writing or\nIs this a revised draft of a strong\nAI prompt?\n\n**XII**\nIt’s finals week.\nCan we map electricity spikes\nTo college towns\nTo academic integrity reports?\n\n**XIII**\nIt was the semester’s twilight.\nNo one knew what AI would look like\nIn the morning.",
  "title": "Thirteen Ways of Looking at AI"
}