UChicago graduates encouraged to speak freely, listen actively to meet challenges ahead
As the June sun beamed, Prof. Tom Ginsburg asked the University of Chicago’s Class of 2023 to recall someone with whom they’d had a deep conversation. Reflecting on the power of dialog made him less anxious about ChatGPT, the A.I. bot which had generated the first—and quickly abandoned—draft of his Convocation remarks.
“A machine can mimic conversation; it can beat us at chess or beat us at Go,” said the renowned legal scholar. “But it cannot have the genuine sense of doubt, openness, and vulnerability that leads to actual learning and creativity.”
Ginsburg reminded the graduates, family and friends gathered June 3 for UChicago’s 537th Convocation that conversation is not easy, but necessary.
“This is one reason I love the University of Chicago, and its culture of argument and friendly challenge,” said Ginsburg, the Leo Spitz Distinguished Service Professor of International Law. “At its best, we strive to be tough on ideas and kind to people; whereas much of other discourse these days is the opposite: tough on people, weak on ideas.”