I do not believe that generative AI belongs on a Mennonite college campus. There are many reasons for this, but I do feel the need to first clarify that I do mean generative AI, the type of chatbot that would have you believe it knows how to write better than you, that it gives good advice, that it is a knowledge machine — not a repository of all correct and incorrect information out on the internet. The sacredness of the human mind and communal effort has been at the forefront of the Mennonite movement for 500 years. It is not something that I personally am willing to give up on now.

To be clear, there are many reasons AI is problematic, including environmental concerns and its connection to violent and oppressive systems, but there are many people far more qualified than I unpacking that. What I am qualified to talk about is what it means to be a Mennonite at a Mennonite institution — and AI is just not congruous with this experience.

One of the main arguments for the use of AI is that it will make things more efficient and give us more time. However, not to sound too Amish, but there is value in things taking time. Beyond just that, I still have not heard a compelling argument as to what will actually be done with this saved time. It isn’t as though people are leaving work earlier or finishing their studies much faster.

Besides, even if it makes your life easier, there are all sorts of “easy” things I personally reject because they aren’t the right thing to do. Throwing everything away instead of splitting into recycling, composting and landfill is faster, but that doesn’t mean I endorse that way of living. No one makes me work at The Record — my life would be less work, and I would have more time if I didn’t, but I wouldn’t trade my experience here for anything.

Personal choice and consent are also prevalent Anabaptist themes — just as no one can force me to serve in the military, no one should be able to force me to use AI, especially without my knowledge. That might seem like an extreme example, but the principle is still the same. I must have the space to stand behind my convictions, without the powers that be imposing their own will.

We, as a Mennonite school, should not be so quick to conform to the demands of the world without taking serious time to consider the implications on our world and our faith, which is not the tone that I have understood from the administration surrounding these decisions. At every turn, things have felt rushed and poorly explained, with little to no explanation offered to students.

I’m sure that some will dismiss this as naive to the real world and how things really are, but I know that my faith calls me to live radically, not just resigning myself to how things have to be. When my ancestors were told “conform or die,” they very notably died — it was sort of their whole thing for a while.

This is not a call to abscond from society with me and take up internet-free communal living, but I would ask everyone to think critically about how they are using AI — and, most crucially, why. On an institutional level, I would ask anyone at the administration who considers themself an Anabaptist to be able to articulate how they personally justify their support of AI in relation to their faith. Where is the third way? How does AI support a radical and nonconforming love of neighbor?