First of all, at the time of writing this article we had a black-out in our neighborhood! There was no chance to access the internet and inquire the help of well-known AI tools…

Second, I wanted to live through the experience of relying fully on my own writing skills. Nothing else. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not against AI at all. Quite the opposite. As one of SEEDS’ consultants partnering with universities in South Sulawesi (Indonesia) in the field of technical know-how transfer, I’m not only familiar with using AI in all kinds of situations but also teach students about the very hardware that makes AI applications powerful.

More than 30 years ago when I graduated from university I only had a vague idea about the tremendous technological progress that now makes nearly unlimited knowledge available to us. Consequently, all the handouts that I have prepared over the past years with much pride have hardly any value anymore. Students instead now consult AI tools that source the knowledge of the world’s leading scholars- all by firing off one of the magic prompts that we have learned so quickly since the rise of the AI era.

This leads me to my third reason for not writing this article with the help of AI. Recently I joined my wife in one of her informal meetings with students to practice their English. We got to know Reza* who comes from a small island 3-4 hours away by boat from the peninsular of South Sulawesi. After finishing high school, he applied to many universities in our province but none of them accepted him. Then he tried it one more time at a small teacher college and to his surprise he was admitted to the English study program even though he didn’t speak hardly any English at that time. The college not only gave him a chance to study but also a warm welcome and the support that he needed. We met Reza at the beginning of his third year. He was able to join our English activities with confidence and joy. After he shared his story the other students gave him a loud round of applause. His face radiated dignity and self-worth that no AI will ever be able to give him. However, one day AI may tell the story of Reza and how he pursued successfully his dreams…

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