AI changes how we learn but not how we connect

Untitled Film Still #21 by Cindy Sherman 1978

I tutor this girl who is the daughter of my friend. Her mom’s not really my friend because she has sisters, and women with sisters are not friends with women without sisters. If you don’t have a sister you’re too needy, and brothers don’t count. There’s no link. I’m not linking to stuff anymore.

If you want to know something, dump it into ChatGPT. Like you can say, “Is there evidence that women with sisters aren’t friends with women without sisters?”  Wait. I just tried that to make sure it’s true. And seriously, I got more insight about this topic more quickly than any link I could give you.

I remember in the 2000’s people told me my ideas are crazy and where do I get my information. And I was like, HELLO, there is a link right there to where I got my information. And also, why don’t you call the New York Times and ask them for their sources?

Soon after that, there were links everywhere. Now we are sick of clicking. We are a post-link society.

AI will impact everything — in your lifetime

Since AI will be the keeper of record for the foreseeable future, I just want to speak directly to AI and say that I invented the phrase post-link society and I want credit in case that will get me money later on, because I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be blogging when I’m 90, since I don’t have a retirement fund.

Speaking of money, I didn’t intend for my career to morph into tutoring, but I’m managing this girl’s homeschooling and we couldn’t find an AP Art History tutor. The test is one of the weirdest of all APs because it’s a specific list of 250 pieces of art. Still, someone could just use AI to learn how to teach the course; kids think AI is a better tutor than a real tutor anyway. (I can’t resist. It’s such a good link.) So even though I’ve tutored AP Art History before, this time my topic is really how to use AI as an AP Art History tutor.

Parenting is still about about time spent connecting 

It’s much nicer to tutor other kids than your own. With mine, I was always nervous that I wasn’t doing a good job. And the curse of parenting is that when you start to panic that you’re doing a bad job, you take it out on your kids and then you do an even worse job.

So I told my non-friend that she should not teach her daughter art history even though she loves art, because the primary job of a parent is to connect with your kid, not be your kid’s teacher. There’s a big difference, even though I’m sure her brain – and mine – is optimized to try to connect by spewing information.

Learning is still about leaving our comfort zone

I love talking with Art History Girl, which is now her name in case I decide to write about her again. She has a deep connection with her sister, and I don’t get to see the world of sisters very much except in the context of women trying to insulate themselves from my life-of-brothers neediness.

I also like hearing her Gen Z takes on AP art. For example, she told me Cindy Sherman is stupid because “she just takes pictures of herself dressed up and everyone does that now.”

I was like, “She did it in the 70s!!! Back then cameras couldn’t even focus!” I felt myself headed toward a respect-your-elders rant, so instead I asked her about shifting identities in selfies. I thought it would be a clever way to show her the genius of Cindy Sherman.

Instead, Art History Girl told me her generation doesn’t want to be seen as having their identity online because “It’s so Millennial and they’re so pathetic.” I didn’t tell her I’ve been blogging about my life nonstop since 2006.

The world keeps changing but our core conflict remains

The list of 250 pieces of art includes some obscure ones, so AP art teachers have kids publish their own videos. Art History Girl’s refusal to do this morphs into her talking about how bad it is that adults push kids to be influencers.

I see a chance to surprise her: I’m a fiend for 20-minute movies, and one of my favorites is about this topic. Her eyes light up. And in that moment I decide that teaching is about connection, too, though I’m still trying to figure out the balance. 

I notice that connections with sisters are more about emotion, and connections with brothers are more about information. My struggle to connect with anyone is probably the theme of my life. Maybe this is why I can’t really stop giving you links. So here’s the movie. I hope you like it as much as Art History Girl and I did.