Can you defend that you wrote it?

There is a debate about using Artificial Intelligence to write books, blogs, and even term papers and whether it’s okay. Especially in schools where some people are thinking that it’s cheating while others think enhancing writing using A.I. is a great idea. That is not a debate for today’s Front-Row Friday message. Today, I want to encourage you to work on this one skill in case anyone questions your writing: Oral communications.

A.I. is not going anywhere, so I anticipate there being a time where you will have to defend what you wrote. Was it your original thought and enhanced by Chat GPT or did A.I. write it for you? Or did you write it totally on your own without any help from technology?

There was a movie I saw years ago called “Working Girl” with Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith. Sigourney’s character stole a huge idea from Melanie Griffith’s character and presented it as her own. The boss was so impressed with this idea of merging two companies that he got curious and wondered how she came up with it. She stumbled and stuttered through a weak explanation because she couldn’t reveal she stole the idea. When Melanie’s character was asked the same question, she was able to articulately convey how it was her original thought triggered by a wedding announcement in the newspaper. She was able to track the idea from inception to presentation. Since A.I. is SO prevalent, I suggest you work on your oral communication skills just in case someone asks you to defend your writing. You don’t have to be a professional speaker like me but take a class on persuasive communication or oral communication skills so that if you are ever questioned whether your writing is original, you can convey it with authority and credibility. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, students will have to orally defend what they wrote and how they came up with original ideas.

P.S. I wrote this blog after seeing schools debate the student use of A.I. in writing term papers and thought to myself, people really need to brush up on their oral communication skills!  See what I did there?

Happy Front-Row Friday –