Defining Moments, Definitive Programs, and the Continued Erasure of Missing People

In that single sentence, the machine went through a defining activity that established Ghanaian English as having a grammar that was non-standard and that its non-standard nature could adversely affect the ability of a wider audience to comprehend what was written. ChatGPT was echoing decades of imperialist framing that positioned English varieties of the Global South as being diametrically opposed to the English varieties of the North. According to the AI, "E be possible say you fit write academic paper for Ghanaian English." While my single experience is by no means the basis for generalizing on what it means for missing people to be defined by AIs, it is an indication that rhetoric, composition studies, and literacy studies should be concerned with the kind of writing that AIs are likely to facilitate. [...]I would like to think that this article, in suggesting where we are, sends out a call to action in a defining moment for both the missing people of literacy studies who are being defined by AI writing, and the humans who have enjoyed the privilege of receiving both human and machine acknowledgement.