Bee Best

“I found an antidote to my existential angst last week when I tuned into the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 101-year-old competition might seem quaint and dated in the age of autocorrect and ChatGPT, but it is really a celebration of the crucial life skills that we should be teaching kids. They also happen to be many of the same ones AI has the potential to erode: focus and self-reliance, a tolerance for frustration and discomfort. When the contestants are alone at the microphone, there is no spellcheck or Google to call on, no Claude to give hints on how to parse Phthartolatrae or vaesite. (My spellcheck doesn’t even recognize these words.) ‘You cannot outsource your thinking up on the stage.'” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Spelling Bee Restored My Faith in Humanity.