Yes, and: Why HigherEd Needs Improv

I have been watching the HigherEd discourse evolve around generative Ai and large language models and also had the privilege to read Rua M. Williams' book this week Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI and it had me thinking. As I watch the conversations be so very very Yes or No without exception - you are either a let's generative Ai everything in academe or a "Luddite" let's never use it ever for all the bias and ecological reasons that are very very valid, I am realizing that gosh you know what we need is some liminal space, some grey, some improv.

Academe from the decisions being made administratively without discussion and consultation, to the tools and "supports" that are slowly being rolled out on platforms everywhere without explanation and assuming compliance, all of it, it all needs some improv. We cannot continue in academe in perpetual "yes person" mode, because the perpetual yes is leading to burnout, to disengagement, to closures, to unemployment. And we are told that being a "no person" is also too radical for 2025 - you cannot say no to on-site work even if your role doesn't require you to be on-site (they need people to buy coffee from the campus Tim Hortons dontcha know). 

So how do we circle this square (lol)? We all need to start using that improv "and" after every yes we encounter. Here are some examples:

• Generative Ai is awesome because it can function as assistive tech for disabled folk, Yes, AND it is also problematic because all tech does not work for all folk and often tools have not been vetted well for accessibility supports.
• It is important to work in the office because connecting with people helps mental health, Yes, AND people need to see the value of connection because connection can be done virtually as well (see disability Twitter for plenty of examples of this) and for some people too much peopling actually can create more stress.
• Being in class is the only way students can learn this particular skill because it needs to happen with hand's on practice, Yes, AND there are virtual practice modules that can be done in the meantime if someone can't make it to class one week because they are sick or have a caretaking emergency.

You see that And is magic. And I suggest you try that magic And in your discussions with colleagues and in your communications with folk. Acknowledging that the other person may have a point about something is great (if they actually do and are not being racist, ableist, transphobic, homophobic, etc.), validating their thinking wonderful, but getting them to realize an aspect of that thinking that they may not have realized (often an accessibility and inclusion framing that is no where on their radar), that's priceless!