I am a professor in the School of Media & Commuincation at Western Kentucky University, but I do not consider myself an "academic."
I am a journalist who teaches.
Despite the rapid advances in technoloy (AI), I still believe people are more talented than computers when it comes to writing. AI has been a tool that's been around for a long time, the spell check function is an example of this. AI is more sophisticated and powerful, but when it comes to powerful storytelling, writers stll do it best. I encourage my students to be confident in their ability to tell great stories. And when I do my freelance work, I hold myself to the same standards to which I hold my students. I take my work very seriously but not myself. Learning can and should be fun. Through my many years of teaching, my students have routinely defined me as "tough but fair," and a teller of stories. In the end, the students are accountable. I have never told a student you cannot succeed. I tell them "If you want to succeed, these are things you must do." Then they make a choice.