October 2025 "Lessons on Rushing in with Rhetorical Remarks" by guest writer, ASG Senator Wyatt Tomlinson

     On the evening of Saturday, 12 September 2025, I read an article in The Atlantic magazine that profoundly annoyed me. The article’s title was “The Question All Colleges Should Ask Themselves About AI” by Tyler Austin Cohen, a former professor at Bates College of various subjects including film, literature, and the history of science, and his writings have appeared in other publications such as The New York Times and Jacobin.

     As expected, the article was on the topic of LLMs, or Large Language Models—ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, etc., specifically dealing with proposals to combat LLM-enabled cheating by college students. In short, Cohen’s proposals were vexing to me in the same way someone offering an opinion on a subject you are passionate about compels you to respond. Cohen’s proposal to ban laptops in addition to smartphones was the proposal that stuck with me, and as justification, he writes:

     Although laptops and AI transcription services can be helpful for students with special needs, they are rarely essential…The idea that the only way to create an inclusive classroom is through gadgets and software is little more than ed-tech-industry propaganda. Investing in human specialists, however, would be good for students of all abilities (Cohen 4-5).

          Cohen makes several assumptions here, the main one being that laptops are nonessential. Bypassing the broader debate of what counts as an “essential” device and how that depends on the time someone is born in, the above scenario leaves out one large group: people with visual impairments. Before the prevalence of eBooks on laptops or laptops themselves, large print textbooks were required for reading. I know, because in the K-12 system I used them, right around the time their electronic counterparts came around. They are extremely cumbersome, heavy, and cannot fit into backpacks. Four or more books is the volume needed to fit the equivalent information of a single volume of a standard print book. This is not to say they—and their non-academic cousins—are not worthwhile. They are. However, for the needs of students, portability is key, and with large-print textbooks as the only option, gone is the ability to read anywhere except the classroom and by extension share ideas with fellow students with books in-hand.

     Limitations are compounded by the fact that visual impairment is a spectrum, and thus one font size, contrast, and other characteristics cannot meet all needs due to print’s static existence. Electronic texts do all the same as print text—mostly—but more, as it can be zoomed in, text sizes can be adjusted, etc. Braille has a larger footprint that currently cannot be matched by electronic text, but refreshable Braille displays exist, though not everyone currently with a visual impairment knows Braille. The former allows two people to engage with the same material in different ways, Braille alongside sighted reading, and the latter is a practical consideration. What all this means is simple: electronic text, due to its inherent nature, is more flexible, shareable, and more than its printed counterpart, something that actually enhances creativity, collaboration, and other learning Cohen espouses in his article. This isn’t even touching upon screen readers. If Cohen did take this amount of time to consider how his proposals would affect the people he wrote about, that was not visible.

     On numerous past occasions, I have simply scrolled past the title and author to the text, and by doing that, I have missed important key context. ‘Articles cannot be trusted’ as the default is not the proper assumption, but the inverse is: the readers need to figure out who they can trust via checking authors’ credentials and past work. For those of you who have taken Prof. Apperson’s or other professors’ English 1A/C1000 classes, this should all be familiar, and thus, principles such as these taught from the English department still hold relevance after their classes end for the semester.

     This type of analysis only happened because I vehemently disagreed with Cohen’s entire article and then took more time to understand what Cohen was arguing—rather than simply responding based on first impressions. Part of this was finding out from his Atlantic profile page that he was a former professor, which lent some weight to his argument. Failing to identify authorship is what caused this mess and led to the feeling that even in trusted publications, like The Atlantic, articles may not automatically be credible or trustworthy. The Atlantic, and many other current online publications, are magazines, and thus, many different views will be presented on nearby pages.

Fun Facts:

• Money can talk. Apps and gadgets read aloud the value of paper bills for blind and low-vision shoppers.

• Smartphones read everything aloud. Screen readers let blind users scroll, shop, and even post on Instagram.

• Your brain loves vision. Nearly half of the cerebral cortex is dedicated to processing sight.

• Video games are becoming more accessible. Titles like The Last of Us Part II include audio cues and navigation assist so blind players can fully enjoy them.

Valley Center for the Blind (VCB)

     Headquartered in Fresno, CA, and serving in multiple counties in the Central Valley, this nonprofit organization is dedicated to empowering individuals who are blind or visually impaired. VCB provides an array of services such as Braille instruction, assistive-technology training, orientation and mobility skills, independent living classes, and employment preparation. For more information, visit their website at https://myvcb.org/

• Money can talk. Apps and gadgets read aloud the value of paper bills for blind and low-vision shoppers.

• Smartphones read everything aloud. Screen readers let blind users scroll, shop, and even post on Instagram.

• Your brain loves vision. Nearly half of the cerebral cortex is dedicated to processing sight.

• Video games are becoming more accessible. Titles like The Last of Us Part II include audio cues and navigation assist so blind players can fully enjoy them.