It is an interesting read, especially for folks like me who spent their entire professional life in the halls of academe. It certainly increases my empathy for those in that world who have to deal with discerning the source of various exams, articles, etc. Empathy stems from memories of a far different reality: watching my father grading "blue books" after dinner at the dining room table. "Blue books" were small, blue-covered paper booklets used by students to write essay exams. They usually consisted of dozen or so sheets of lined white paper. And that memory suggests one solution to the crisis in the classroom: bring back written work. Pencil to paper. Phones and smart watches, etc., deposited at the door. Sure, a lot of work to grade, but at least you knew you were seeing the student's actual thoughts - or lack thereof.
I addressed my thoughts on the impact of ChatGPT in general in this previous post:
https://schragwall.blogspot.com/2026/04/artificial-intelligence.html,
But I wanted to suggest a few other thoughts. In the world outside the classroom "bring back written work" will rarely be a feasible reaction to AI - which is obviously here to stay, and will only increase its presence in our lives. Instead it strikes me that it might be helpful to acknowledge to ourselves, and perhaps to those with whom we share our work, the extent to which our artifacts [anything we create, words, images, music, etc.] employ digital agents. I am currently leaning towards the three categories that are the title of this post: HiTech, HiTouch and Hybrid. Let me unpack my thinking on each.
HiTech. These are artifacts that lean heavily on digital tools. Of concern in the Business Week article are student papers that are essentially "cut and paste" compositions cribbed from various online sources. Academic and professional journals are facing similar problems. However, I should point out that there is space for such endeavors. Annotated bibliographies are quite important works in many areas of research. It is common place for the creators of various artifacts to declare: "My work stands upon the shoulders of those giants who have gone before." Annotated bibliographies gather those giants in an easily accessible space.
In the sciences those "giants" are, in some cases, bits of technology that allow for the gathering, inspection, and expansion of various data sets that allow for insights that would be impossible without those technologies. Additionally, HiTech can flourish in some unexpected places. In the ARTificial Intelligence piece referenced above I discuss how I used Photoshop to assemble pieces of several disparate previously created images in to a new composition.
More intriguing was a video I saw about the HiTech production of The Great Animal Orchestra: Symphony for Orchestra and Wild Soundscapes, created in 2014 by soundscape ecologist and musician Bernie Krause, and composer Richard Blackford.
Krause had gathered, over the years, thousands of recordings of animal calls in the wild. Blackford composed a symphony based on those digital pieces, recorded the symphony, and together they digitally blended those two complex audio sources into a creation that became the symphony. Definitely HiTech.
In the final analysis the artifacts deemed HiTech are those in which the major elements of the artifact are digital. Less easy to define, but still important is the amount of "hands on time" as opposed to "screen time" that you, or other creators, spent in making the artifact. This aspect is kind of slippery, and remains secondary to the necessary dominance of digital elements.
HiTouch. This one is less complex, easier to define. The primary defining element is the amount of effort to create the artifact that was spent with the "hands of the creator" in physical contact with the artifact. The clearest examples are painting - the creator of the artifact actually applying something to a surface; and sculpture when the creator of the artifact assembles or shapes a physical artifact. While it is easy to cite classical examples - Michelangelo's David or his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - modern examples require a softer definition. Hence the important aspect of the definition depends upon the extent to which the artifact was actually physically created by human hands, free of digital assistance. These "pure touch" artifacts are not as dominant as they once were which leads us to the final category - Hybrid.
Hybrid. These artifacts are ubiquitous in modern life. In fact, it takes significant effort to not be complicit in their creation. You write a text or an email and "suggestions" pop up as to what your next word might be, allowing you to simply click on the word, avoiding the mundane necessity of actually typing the word - or you can simply click on the microphone and create your message verbally. You can disable these helpful? Intrusive? little gnomes but that sometimes requires venturing into the world of HiTech.
But my concern here is not so much defeating HiTech intrusions into the creation of artifacts. Rather I am interested in how Tech and Touch can merge in the creation of unique artifacts. It might be best - and certainly easiest for me - to talk about the process I use in my own Hybrid works.
Most commonly I use one of my photographs to create a template for the eventual artifact. That is not as simple as it sounds. For example I wanted to use this model of a carriage in an image:
The first step was to put that image into Photoshop and remove everything that wasn't carriage. A rather laborious process that gave me this:
But I wanted a bunch of carriages crisscrossing each other in the final artifact, so back to Photoshop which eventually gave me this: [I don't have the completely blank image so pretend the color isn't there ;-)]
And that was when I realized I had over-stepped. The Carriages had somehow blossomed into a piece that was about 4x3 feet. But that was the end of the HiTech part of the artifact. Everything over the next few weeks was my hand to the paper - drawing on the bedroom floor as the image was far too big for my drafting table. HiTouch for each different carriage as you can see above and below.
And then I began to obsess over the blank spaces along each side of the image. And condemned my self to another few weeks filling in those spaces HiTouch [Final time "hands on the artifact" approximately 5 weeks - several hours a day]:
So that's one example of HyBrid.
Additionally, one of the grand kids up here does some interesting work with 3D printing. Right now, for him, the thing - a dragon or alligator - is the finished product. However, I can easily imagine a sculptor using 3D printing to create the maquette for a larger piece that is then rendered full size in HiTouch - carving wood or marble, sculpting clay, whatever. No doubt this is one area in which AI may have an impact.
So, AI and other digital tools will undoubtedly continue to impact the way in which we create artifacts for tomorrows museums, galleries and exhibitions. But I would encourage you to keep your hand in with HiTouch as well. There is something uniquely satisfying in the creation of artifacts "from the hand of . . ."
So why consider these categories? There are external and internal reasons. Externally it makes sense that for us, as receivers, evaluators or purchasers of contemporary artifacts, knowing the "category provenance" of the artifact is important in determining its "credibility" and/or "value." The "category provenance" of an artifact is not the sole determinant of credibility or value, but it is an element in the equation.
Internally, as creators, we need to consider the options presented by each category, and how each resonates with our creative intent and sensibilities. How does creating in each category feel? Each has its strengths and drawbacks. I seem to be in a Hybrid phase right now, but have spent time in HiTouch - drawing and sculpting, and in HiTech - some early classes in coding and some time in photography darkrooms messing with chemicals, exposure, dodging, etc., and some physical editing of film - cutting and splicing.
Each felt quite satisfying at the moment. I encourage you to play with all of them.
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