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Generative AI and composing: an intergenerational conversation among literacy scholars

Grace Enriquez (Department of Language and Literacy, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
Victoria Gill (Department of Language and Literacy, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
Gerald Campano (Division of Learning, Teaching, and Literacies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
Tracey T. Flores (Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA)
Stephanie Jones (Mary Frances Early College of Education, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Kevin M. Leander (Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Lucinda McKnight (School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)
Detra Price-Dennis (Department of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA)

English Teaching: Practice & Critique

ISSN: 1175-8708

Article publication date: 22 December 2023

Issue publication date: 8 April 2024

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a transcript of a dialogue among literacy educators and researchers on the impact of generative aritficial intelligence (AI) in the field. In the spring of 2023, a lively conversation emerged on the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL)’s listserv. Stephanie initiated the conversation by sharing an op-ed she wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the rise of ChatGPT and similar generative AI platforms, moving beyond the general public’s concerns about student cheating and robot takeovers. NCRLL then convened a webinar of eight leading scholars in writing and literacies development, inspired by that listerv conversation and an organizational interest in promoting intergenerational collaboration among literacy scholars.

Design/methodology/approach

As former doctoral students of two of the panel participants, webinar facilitators Grace and Victoria positioned themselves primarily as learners about this topic and gathered questions from colleagues, P-16 practitioners and those outside the field of education to assess the concerns and wonderings that ChatGPT and generative AI have raised. The following webinar conversation was recorded on two different days due to scheduling conflicts. It has been merged and edited into one dialogue for coherence and convergence.

Findings

Panel participants raise a host of questions and issues that go beyond topics of ethics, morality and basic writing instruction. Furthermore, in dialogue with one another, they describe possibilities for meaningful pedagogy and critical literacy to ensure that generative AI is used for a socially just future for students. While the discussion addressed matters of pedagogy, definitions of literacy and the purpose of (literacy) education, other themes included a critique of capitalism; an interrogation of the systems of power and oppression involved in using generative AI; and the philosophical, ontological, ethical and practical life questions about being human.

Originality/value

This paper provides a glimpse into one of the first panel conversations about ChatGPT and generative AI in the field of literacy. Not only are the panel members respected scholars in the field, they are also former doctoral students and advisors of one another, thus positioning all involved as both learners and teachers of this new technology.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Lucinda McKnight is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (project number DE220100515) funded by the Australian Government.

Citation

Enriquez, G., Gill, V., Campano, G., Flores, T.T., Jones, S., Leander, K.M., McKnight, L. and Price-Dennis, D. (2024), "Generative AI and composing: an intergenerational conversation among literacy scholars", English Teaching: Practice & Critique, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 6-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-08-2023-0104

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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