AI was great until it was not
A student at Oxford reflects on the shift in academic culture following the widespread adoption of ChatGPT in late 2024. The author contrasts their rigorous American physics education with the impersonal, competitive environment at Oxford, noting how AI tools fundamentally changed student collaboration and problem-solving.
Why it matters
It highlights the profound impact of generative AI on higher education and the potential erosion of traditional academic rigor and collaborative learning.
When I arrived at Oxford, I experienced what many would call a cultural shock. Beyond the flamboyant parties and visible micro-aggressions of the gowned elite, my physics and math courses felt radically different than before. The lectures were significantly more impersonal; the professors were a bit hostile; the crowd was huge, and everyone had something to prove. This would have felt rather normal if I had decided to continue my education in Argentina, but, instead, I had adapted to the American education model—at a school like Northwestern no less, which had a fairly small physics program. Not only that, I spent half of my undergraduate education surrounded by PhD students, taking the same classes as them.
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