Did You See That?: What Do Cursive and Magazine Interviews Have in Common?

AI is everywhere now. We are talking to our computers and getting insightful, predictive replies in return. Just the other day, I was driving down the interstate when I asked my Android Auto app the 0-60 time for my Toyota 86 TRD. Not only did Android Auto give me the number (just under seven seconds), but it continued, “Of course your 86 TRD is valued for its handling more than traditional off-the-line performance. And since you’re currently driving, be sure to pay attention to traffic, keep your hands on the wheel, and above all else, enjoy your driving experience.” Every single assumption AI made about me at that moment was completely true. Whoa… I could get quite used to this kind of electronic assistance.

Seems I’m not alone, but I may also run contrary to the demographics. Estimates show that the U.S. population’s willingness to use and trust AI increases with higher education. AI acceptance rises for adolescence, peaks for those in university years, and then slowly declines as the population ages. No wonder, then, that our educational system is undergoing rapid retooling to adjust. This shift seems in part to include a return to the “old ways.” Now, before you baby boomers and Gen Xers gloat, let me explain.

Over the last quarter century, U.S. schools have been following the “No Child Left Behind” model, which emphasized test scores as the key metric. Entire curricula were developed simply to teach to the test rather than cultivate real understanding. The shift AI’s presence is creating is to move away from “Can the student create this product?” to “Can the student demonstrate genuine understanding behind the product?” To put this switch into effect, educators are now emphasizing that students demonstrate process rather than just a correct answer. Sure, in the pre-internet days, when one could use only one’s own thinking (possibly assisted by a card catalog at the library) as a resource, a correct answer was a pretty surefire way to spot-check process correctness. But when a correct answer is just a voice query away, that right-answer spot check becomes obsolete.

Increasingly, students are being asked to show understanding by demonstrating critical thinking, original arguments, real-world application, synthesis of multiple sources, and – get this – an evaluation of the evidence. Handwritten work, especially when generated in the classroom and not at home, is returning to the center as a validation method.

My son is in his late 20s now. Back when he was in grade school (well before AI, of course), his relationship with his math teacher was constantly strained. Even into early algebra, he tended to do the math in his head, write down his answer, and move on. He’d argue, “Why bother with all the extra writing when I know the answer?” His teachers would answer back, “Because I want to see HOW you got there, that’s more important to me than the actual answer.” This, even during the NCLB years. That handwritten process showed his understanding – sometimes his lack thereof - of the methods. Even back then, educators were working to demonstrate a student’s understanding of the process; it has only become more critical in the post-AI world.

That said, it’s likely that media reports about the return of cursive are a bit exaggerated, jumping one conclusion too far as it were. Just because handwritten work in the classroom is on the return doesn’t mean that cursive is to follow. Though it would make sense, one’s personal cursive writing style is probably the most AI-defeating font on the planet.

It’s not just the classroom; it’s the newsroom as well. Current estimates are that about 9% of all news articles contain some AI-generated text and increasing. We can naturally surmise that the use of AI in the newsroom as a research automation tool will continue to grow. AI’s strength (and weakness) is in pulling research from sources you didn’t know about. For example, the Associated Press bans the use of Generative AI in the creation of news items. But the AP has, for quite some time, used non-generative AI to collate data in highly structured areas, such as financial reporting.

At I-Connect007, we’re also using AI as a research tool. We’ve established policies for how and how not to use AI in all the content we publish. (If you’d like a copy of our guidelines we’ll be happy to share one with you.) Just like educators, we strive to hold all our content to high standards of critical thinking, original arguments, synthesis of multiple sources and ideas, and more. Which brings me to my point about interviews.

For many years, I-Connect007 has used the interview as a signature method of reporting up-to-the-minute news and information. We’re good at them. Whether we go beyond the press release to talk to the newsmakers, get additional insight from a keynote speaker, or dig deep into a technical topic with a subject-matter expert, interviews allow us to take you deeper into a story. We ask the harder questions, strive to stitch together various perspectives, and create a genuinely unique, deeper understanding for our readers.

If our interview objectives sound similar to the way educators are shifting schoolwork for our children, it’s because we share the same goals. We’re here to find and document the uniqueness of our business, and our seat near the center of it all allows us to bring you insight and useful perspectives.

So, don’t be surprised if you see more interviews in all our various publication channels; the presence of the interview guarantees that the content is absolutely NOT AI-generated. That transcript format is our own seal of approval that what you’re about to read is entirely human thought.

We may know how to do it, but don’t expect us to start publishing our original content in cursive, though. We’ll stick to printed text.

Full disclosure: AI was used as a research aggregator for the creation of this piece. The thinking and writing was human-generated, and as gloriously flawed as it should be.

Michelle Te contributed to this article. She is a managing editor at I-Connect007 and has an extensive career history in newspaper and magazine publishing.

Nolan Johnson is also managing editor at I-Connect007. His background is ICs, PCBs, and software development.