This time: two stories about the future, and how we might adapt.
The Boston Globe did a great big feature on alpha-gal syndrome, which is a tick-borne illness that causes an allergy to some meat and dairy. I initially read this story just as someone who lives in tick central, and who knows at least three people with alpha-gal. The language angle comes late in the story, with a photo of bakery labels on Martha’s Vineyard. There are handwritten signs that say “alpha-gal friendly.”
As someone who has been vegetarian since I was 15, it’s a weird feeling seeing these signs. Being vegetarian is fun when it’s a choice. Having to eat that way out of necessity, and having to be on the lookout for those labels, is…grim.
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Jay Caspian Kang has the best series of columns on generative AI and higher ed that I’ve read from any journalist. I say that despite (or perhaps because) I don’t totally agree with him. He’s much more curious about AI than I am. (If I were to write about AI, the piece would just be the word “No” and nothing else.)
His guiding question over the course of the series has been whether his 9-year old daughter will, or should, go to college after she graduates from high school. Should he keep contributing to her college fund? The highlights are his critical appraisal of AI-generated writing style and his collection of testimonies from professors at Cal State Chico, UNC, USF, UMass Amherst, UCLA, Cambellsville University, East Los Angeles College, Belmont University, University of Mount Saint Vincent, and Houston City College.
Yes, he also interviewed the shameless Hollis Robbins, but in my reading he gave her enough rope to hang herself with.
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Both of these stories also put me in mind of the “Word of the Year” contest that I do with my Language in Everyday Life class (modeled after the American Dialect Society’s annual WOTY event). Three years ago, my class voted “AI” as the word of the year. This year, is alpha-gal a contender?
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What else I’m reading: Samir Nadra’s and Jim Purdy’s article “Is genAI a good editor of academic writing?” (answer: not usually, especially when it comes to questions of capitalization). Also, some recent gems in Research in the Teaching of English: Anne Haas Dyson’s article on returning to teaching K-2 students, Robert Petrone, Adrianna González Ybarra’s article on youth re-learning their Native language, and an interview with Jonathan Rosa and Shirin Vossoughi.