AI Forces College Professor to Get Typewriters for Entire Class

[HAB911]

Meme wisdom holds that modern problems require modern solutions, but what peddlers of this internet adage failed to consider is that an antiquated and possibly impractical approach could be loads more fun.

We present Grit Matthias Phelps, a German language instructor at Cornell University who’s rebelling against a world gone mad with AI fever and pervasive brainrot by compelling students to use typewriters in class, the Associated Press

It’s an exercise she only conducts once a semester, but seems to leave a lasting impression on her pupils. Suddenly, they’re forced to depend not on screens, but on themselves and their classmates. The closest thing they hear to an attention-span destroying notification is the ding of the typewriter bell letting them know that they only have a few characters left on a line.

“It dawned on me that the difference with typing on a typewriter is not just how you interact with the typewriter, but how you interact with the world around you,” computer science major Ratchaphon Lertdamrongwong, a sophomore, told the AP.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-professor-typewriters

[wcmagumba]

1. Very groovy...

[Scrivener7]

2. Seems like a pen and paper might be easier. But I do think reversion to analog skills might soon

become necessary. Like, soon we will not be able to believe anything we read on the net and will have to revert to newspapers to get something that has at least been checked by an editorial staff.

[HAB911]

3. much cheaper for sure

[mopinko]

4. pretty sure u can get used typewriters cheap.

or maybe free.

[highplainsdem]

5. The ones I've seen for sale online are hundreds of dollars.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. There Are Plenty Free Models

And garage saling will get 1 or 2 dollar models.
But, Royal still makes them at $50 new, for one of them.
If someone was buying in bulk, it's likely that number could approach $40.
There's a few rummage shops here in town, and there always a couple typewriters in there.
So, if someone wants a cheap, used typewriter, they're out there.

[Scrivener7]

38. But they're typewriters. They don't fit in a purse or a pocket very well.

[SocialDemocrat61]

22. Because newspapers are so reliable?

Can you imagine how many people approved it before publishing?

Shameful.

— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) 2026-04-03T19:20:19.097Z

LOL

[Scrivener7]

39. More than the places where most get their news online.

I guess I'm supposed to say "lol" here to indicate that I think I scored a point.

But I'm not arguing, so I'll refrain.

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. No source is completely reliable

I wouldn’t consider newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch more than some online sources just because they are newspapers.

[Scrivener7]

41. Obviously.

[highplainsdem]

6. Quote from a student: "This might sound bad, but I was forced to actually think about the problem on my own instead of

delegating to AI or Google search."

Imagine, AI-addicted students being forced to actually think on their own.

Just like in "the old days" before ChatGPT and other AI took a wrecking ball to education, a few years ago.

[SheltieLover]

8. Omg! Having to think on their own? 😱

Pls see my response below.

[2naSalit]

19. OMG!

They had to THINK!

I thought that was outlawed about twenty years ago.

[SheltieLover]

7. I love this!

Should be standard in education, given the fairly recent infestation of ai slop & the detrimental effects to the human brain.



Thx for sharing!

[highplainsdem]

9. They simply need to get AI out of classrooms. Which is unfortunately impossible with remote learning.

But when kids are at school, they need to be using their own intelligence, not AI.

[SheltieLover]

10. Yes, they do need to get ai out of classrooms!

[DURHAM D]

11. I posted about typewriters a couple of months ago -

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221024306

It is still working.

[mainer]

12. Where do you find typewriter ribbons?

I still have my beloved little portable typewriter from my college days. But not many places sell ribbons anymore.

[yagotme]

18. Ummm, ask AI???

[highplainsdem]

21. Online, or some office supply stores.

[radical noodle]

23. Try here

https://typewriters.com/

They appear to offer typewriter supplies.

[LSparkle]

25. That's why I jettisoned my beloved Selectric III

Got it from my office at a deep discount (think I paid my firm $100 for it!). The IBM Selectric III had slightly larger, textured keys and I could type faster in that thing than any other machine (120+ wpm) ... and it had enhanced correction features like a half space horizontally so you could fit 5 characters in the space of 4. I still miss that thing ...

[HAB911]

28. I kick myself

when we closed our office and everyone went home to work, we left a Selectric because no one wanted it. Being a packrat, I'm not sure why I did that

[MineralMan]

13. Great Idea!

I made my living as a writer for over 50 years. At the beginning, there were no computers, so I had to type the articles I was writing to submit them to publishers. Personally, I hated typing anything twice, so I wrote my words very carefully in my mind before typing them. Over the years, typing things only once improved both the quality of my writing as well as the thought processes that came before putting words on paper.

It also made me a better user of keyboards, since making errors in typing also meant retyping something. Did I say I hated typing anything more than once?

[TygrBright]

14. Some profs and colleges (and even high schools) are going to oral exams only.

So the student has to know the material well enough to listen to 'new' questions about the material, parse what the questions mean in their own head, access their knowledge of the material, and frame a coherent answer all without referring to a device.

Scary AF....

thoughtfully,
Bright

[SpankMe]

15. Wait - you can still buy typewriters? n/t

[twodogsbarking]

16. In about 1983 the company I worked for bought an IBM Selectric with erase key. Cost $1,200.

I still have it but the erase key doesn't work. It has been is storage above the garage for 30 years. Not sure I could lift it now. Accounting in college but no calculators. Had to add work papers mentally. Typing papers was frustrating. No mistakes allowed. Hit the wrong key and start over. Your brain can do wonders even if ya ain't that smart.

[Attilatheblond]

27. I remember that behemoth machine. Had Selectric envy for a bit of time.

But it wouldn't work for shit on my camping trips, so, nope.

[nuxvomica]

17. The headline is misleading

I thought the school had turned procurement over to an AI bot and it ordered a bunch of typewriters.

[Lonestarblue]

20. AI equals brain rot.

[Attilatheblond]

26. My big brother got me a portable Olivetti typewriter when I was 10. Kept it until I was 40

I broke down and got a word processor, hoping learning how to use that would make it easier to get a better job. Gave the Olivetti to a struggling kid. Have regretted giving up that Olivetti ever since.

Went from just writing to trying to mesh writing with editing on the word processor. It does NOT work. Being the editor stopped the creative writer in me. Spent years training myself to keep a wall between writer and editor.

I do like being able to research things online as my curiosity knows few bounds, and it is great to 'meet' people that my homebody self would never get to meet in real life. As I age, there are sometimes memory issues with finer details of past events, people, names, etc, the internet helps me research. On the downside, the computer also takes up a lot of time when new programs have to be learned. That is annoying to the point that I prefer time spent picking up the dog poop in the back yard.

In my 70s I miss that little Olivetti more than ever. It needed no electricity and was lightweight enough to take to the park, mountains, or beach. Just peeked at what the old relics are going for now. As much as that word processor set me back! On a fixed income that makes me grateful the house is paid for in this economy, I think I will live with fond memories of that little mechanical friend for now.

[mainer]

30. That's what I have! A portable Olivetti Lettera

Got it as a HS graduation gift eons ago.
And like you, I found that moving to a word processor got in the way of creative writing. Seeing words on the screen makes you want to edit to death, and it shuts down the creative part of your brain.

Which is why I write first drafts in longhand. I've written 30 books that way.

[David__77]

29. I could see AI being used to address these issues.

Efentually, AI could verbally discuss material with students to ascertain applied understanding.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. I remember taking typing back in High School

[HAB911]

32. I wanted to graduate early, so.....

I took typing, mechanical drawing, and shorthand. I lasted two days in shorthand, blew my mind. Typing was the single most important class I ever took in HS, being able to type fast at the start of the computer era was worth it's weight in gold, especially in the Army. Mechanical drawing was the second most important when the CAD era arrived. It's been a charmed life.

[wcmagumba]

33. I'm so glad I took typing class in HS at the start of the personal computer age...

also, I never took drafting but we did have an intro to drafting segment in 9th grade shop class. As a technical theatre and English major in college I took a stage set design class where we did learn and were required to precisely draft our set designs, glad for that too...

[HAB911]

34. funny how things work out

typing was to get closer to a certain girl, that didn't work out but the class did! too funny

[Wifes husband]

35. The word processor

The word processor was an unbelievable improvement to office work. It is just ignorant to believe differently.

Typewriters were a vast improvement in their day, but no one missed them when the desk computers became available. There was a training curve, certainly.
Typewriters are fine as a hobby. Not for serious work

[DavidDvorkin]

37. Exactly right.

[Initech]

36. Now they too can go get ribbons off the electronic bay!