Repairing Repair

Repair is a noble cause, but it is inseparably fraught with political anxieties and machinations. Because the idea of repair is often popularly perceived as an ethically grounded panacea, we frequently miss seeing how it dovetails with our understandings of another problematic concept: injustice. Insofar as we want to operationalize it as a tool for social good, it is important to understand “repair” in its turbulences, fluidities, and anomalies.

Imagine a city — full of rich heritage, economic potential, and informal settlements — struck by a powerful earthquake. The city is decimated. In the aftermath, administrators, policymakers, and civil society feel it is their moral duty to repair their city. Yet after much contentious debate, there is no consensus as to how to rebuild.

Comment quitter une forêt lorsque l’on est un arbre ?

OpenAI has published “A Student’s Guide to Writing with ChatGPT”. In this article, I review their advice and offer counterpoints, as a university researcher and teacher. After addressing each of OpenAI’s 12 suggestions, I conclude by mentioning the ethical, cognitive and environmental issues that all students should be aware of before deciding to use or not use ChatGPT. I also answer some of the more critical feedback at the end of the post.