A literature professor at the University of Denver is studying how students are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze literary works, and he is emphasizing the need to understand both the benefits and the limitations of this technology. He encourages students to engage with AI by asking it questions about literature and then critically evaluating its responses. His approach highlights the unique role of human sensitivity and empathy in interpreting complex texts. The professor is concerned that over-reliance on AI could lead to a form of intellectual conformity, where students stop thinking deeply and independently. Research has shown that such dependence might reduce the ability to engage with ideas in a nuanced way, potentially making critical thinking a lost art. He argues that teachers should address AI directly in the classroom, helping students recognize that while AI can identify patterns, it cannot truly empathize, daydream, or express itself in an authentic way. In a recent course on Southern Gothic literature, the professor had students use AI to analyze the "emotional atmosphere" of a scene from Carson McCullers' 1940 novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Southern Gothic stories often feature characters who are isolated, emotionally complex, and caught between faith and doubt. The AI's analysis of the scene was described as clinical and emotionless, missing the deep sense of sorrow that defines the moment. Students also found AI-generated creative scenes to be lifeless, with the AI introducing characters like John Singer, a deaf man in the novel, to speak on unrelated topics. The professor explains that AI lacks what he calls "embodied presence"—the ability to truly put itself in someone else's shoes or to feel genuine emotion. He believes that qualities like empathy, irrationality, and emotional depth are essential in countering the cold logic of AI. While he acknowledges that AI can be a helpful tool, he argues that trying to ban its use is not practical. Instead, he hopes students will recognize that relying on AI could mean losing important human capacities like imagination, intuition, and introspection. He encourages students to embrace the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" described by poet William Wordsworth, believing that the most powerful art often comes from those who are vulnerable, disoriented, and lost.