Harvard's Deming on AI in writing classes: enforceable ban or design around it
paulnovosad · x · 2026-09-19
Harvard professor David Deming responded to a controversy after his day-one email to students proposed a "barbell" approach to classroom AI: either ban it in a realistically enforceable way, or accept students will use it and build assignments around that reality — optimistically even using AI to improve teaching in writing-intensive courses.
A snippet posted on X by Tyler Austin Harper stirred accusations that Harvard would replace writing education with AI. Deming clarified: Harvard has had a mandatory expository writing course since 1872, and its writing center runs 1,000 tutoring sessions a semester; the summer consolidation into the Academic Resource Center didn't interrupt tutoring. He argues "writing is thinking," having AI write for you is bad, and clear writing will matter even more as AI grows — Harvard will double down on writing, not abandon it.
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