Why AI Makes Sense in an Education System This Stupid :: A Teacher’s Lament from the Brink of Irrelevance

Ghost in the Rubric

Because education today is primarily about credentialing, about securing a job, about chasing material gains, rather than cultivating critical thinking, real literacy, social-emotional intelligence, or a love of learning for its own sake — because education has been reduced to this narrow function, it makes sense that AI can do it.

And do it better.

And it will.

We no longer need human teachers to oversee box-checking. An algorithm can deliver content, align it to a tidy rubric, auto-grade it, and provide feedback that satisfies administrative requirements.

Done.

No mess.

No complexity.

No challenge.

Take English education, my field. What do we ask of students? Follow the rubric. Hit the marks. The boxes may vary from teacher to teacher, but boxes they remain: purpose, organization, tone, grammar.

Blah, blah, blah.

Check them, and you’re done.

Get your A.

Move on.

It’s all so simple. So reductive.