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Dave Eggers told OpenAI staff that ChatGPT was ‘silencing an entire generation’
Author Dave Eggers used a talk hosted by OpenAI, at Sam Altman's invitation, to sharply criticise the company over ChatGPT's impact on education and young people's writing abilities. Rather than offering career advice to the roughly 200 staff present, Eggers reportedly accused the company of making teachers' lives "infinitely more difficult" and of enabling students to outsource their writing to AI, which he argued strips them of their own voice and storytelling ability.
According to the Financial Times, Eggers told staff that ChatGPT's effect on educators has been "catastrophic" and that students using it to compose work represents "the biggest tragedy of all," warning it amounts to "silencing an entire generation or two." The intervention is consistent with his long-standing scepticism of the tech industry: his bestselling novel The Circle is a critique of Silicon Valley, and he has previously dismissed AI-generated writing as "pastiche nonsense," suggesting Altman likely anticipated the confrontational tone.
In short
- Eggers told OpenAI staff ChatGPT harms teachers and students' writing skills
- He called it "the biggest tragedy" that students use it to compose work
- Fits Eggers' long history of criticising the tech industry
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The strongest case is that writing is a fundamental skill for developing one's voice, identity, and ability to think through complex ideas. When students use ChatGPT to compose their work rather than struggle through the writing process themselves, they miss crucial developmental opportunities. Furthermore, educators now face impossible challenges teaching against a tool that can make student work indistinguishable from AI-generated text, fundamentally altering what education can achieve.
The case against
The strongest case is that writing tools have always aided learning—from pencils to spell-check to grammar software—and ChatGPT is simply the next evolution. When used thoughtfully, AI can help students understand writing better by allowing comparison and revision rather than mechanical composition, whilst democratising access for those with learning disabilities or language barriers. The concern assumes passive misuse, but with proper teaching, students can learn to use these tools as genuine aids to their own thinking rather than replacements for it.
Explained simply
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool released in 2022 that can write essays, articles and other text in response to user prompts. Since its launch, the tool has become widely used by students to help with assignments, raising significant concern amongst educators and writers about whether using AI to generate written work undermines learning. The tool's ability to produce coherent, human-sounding text has sparked broader debate about how schools should respond to artificial intelligence in education.
Dave Eggers is an American author known for novels including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and The Circle, a bestseller that critiques Silicon Valley and the power of large technology companies. He has been outspoken about the negative effects of technology on society and has previously dismissed AI-generated writing, making him a prominent voice questioning the benefits of artificial intelligence. His scepticism of the tech industry extends beyond just AI, and he has used his platform as a bestselling author to voice concerns about corporate influence.
The dispute between Eggers and OpenAI reflects broader anxieties about artificial intelligence's place in education and society. As schools and parents grapple with how to manage students' use of AI tools, debates about whether these systems help or hinder learning remain unresolved. Eggers' intervention at OpenAI headquarters brings a prominent literary voice into a conversation that typically involves educators, technology companies and policymakers.
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