Wrong Premise

Interesting essay on an experiment a teacher ran to see if his students thought he was replaceable by AI. The teachers we love and remember for life helped us recognize some hidden spark in us. Maybe we loved history and just did not know that and were instead pursuing a career in accounting. They saved us from ourselves. It could an anecdote they shared about another kid from another classroom well before our time, words of wisdom that could be relevant to us. The basic mechanics of teaching the material and getting through the curriculum was usually the least of it. The English teacher I have the fondest memories of chatted with me about books she thought I might love. She shared them with me and wanted to know what I thought. Some of those books she'd read when she was closer to my age and the others more recently. The books had shaped her.

I saw little signs of who she was as person and what made her tick. We may have liked a certain book for different reasons but it gave us something common to build on. It enriched my classroom experience with her and to this day I remember how she influenced me. Those are the teachers we want in the lives of young people and there is no way to replace them. To me the premise of this whole experiment is a bit flawed. The question should have been more about the larger point of education where the vast life experience of a teacher combined with their erudition and love for their profession makes them an unstoppable force. Somehow that point was completely lost in this discourse on to chat or not to chat. 

A crutch is a tool, of course, but much of the time it’s one that brings about its own obsolescence, like me. I have no doubt that reading and writing will survive without the help of college, but at its best, college offers students the opportunity to learn these skills with, and from, one another. Maybe the real treasure is the friends they make along the way.

I would disagree. The friends are a treasure no doubt but isn't the point of college to run into one or more teachers that can really help you find your true passion, identify what really gets you energized to go work on everyday.