Overview:
Author Shewanda Riley observed that students struggle with academic research due to an overreliance on instant gratification from tools like Google and ChatGPT. By teaching them to navigate complex library databases, she demonstrated that thorough investigation yields better results than quick matches. Riley ultimately connects this digital impatience to spiritual life, warning against treating prayer like a search engine designed solely for personal pleasure.
“I can’t find anything!” was the response from one of my English Composition students a few weeks ago when I asked if anyone had questions about their research projects. Other students nodded their heads in agreement and complained that they were having the same problems. “Why can’t we use Google or ChatGPT? I can’t find any information on the library databases!” exclaimed another. I responded that they would not be able to use Google because it wasn’t effective academic research but then offered tips on how to find information in the library databases. I also told them that ChatGPT often gives incorrect information as well.
One tip I shared was that Google is matching but the databases are for research. Since its introduction in the late 1990s, Google has simplified information gathering. We can find just about anything, good or bad, legal, or illegal, moral, and immoral on it within seconds. For example, when you look for something or someone on Google, you are most likely going to effortlessly find an exact match. Research, on the other hand, might require repeatedly looking at more than one database and comparing results to find something that is useful.
They were not persuaded by what I said. Despite my explanation, students continued to say that the databases didn’t have any information about their research topics (even though the databases have thousands of articles). But because the information they found on the databases didn’t match exactly what they were looking for, students concluded it didn’t work. Trying to help them get past their frustration while learning a new research technique, I shared with them that they had to change their mindset about what the databases could do.
After going into the databases and showing students how to change their search ChatGPT.
Not only has Google and artificial intelligence like ChatGPT exposed us to more information, I think it has also made us more impatient and less willing to accept things, people or situations that aren’t exactly what we want. After all, Google generally gives exact (or very close) search results. With these kinds of results, I think Google and AI have trained us to believe that we will always get what we want or something close to it when we ask for it.
And for some of us (me included!), we go to God with a similar attitude. In that past, I’ve written about how dangerous it is to think this way because we end up treating God like Google! If I pray this specific kind of prayer, then I’m going to get these specific results. When we don’t we have the nerve to get mad at God! However, James 4:3 explains, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Sometimes, it’s not what you pray, but the attitude you have when you pray (in other words, how you pray) that determines your results.
Shewanda Riley is a Dallas, Texas based author of “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.” Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram @shewandawrites.
