"Live in the Woods, Eat Pancakes, and Wait for GTA 6": Inside an Anti-AI Debate at a French Lycée

Classroom debates are a cornerstone of the French high school experience. Teachers rarely ask you to memorize textbook lines verbatim; instead, they throw you into discussions where there are no easy answers. The prompt for our session was a familiar modern dilemma: "Is Artificial Intelligence a benefit or a curse?".

Tired of serving up predictable clichés, I went straight for the dramatic opposite. I drafted a fiery doom-and-gloom rant: AI is a catastrophe, a destroyer of jobs, and the ultimate downfall of the working class.

When the teacher walked over and peeked at my notes, I felt a quick wave of embarrassment. Trying to explain my improvised nonsense in French was daunting. But the teacher took it in stride and suggested I join a working group debating the issue together.

I agreed, deciding to dial things back with a more rational metaphor: “AI is just another spear that makes the hunter's job easier”.

My group members reviewed the note and immediately set the record straight: for this exercise, our assigned role was to act as a political faction strictly opposed to AI.

It was pure irony: the moment I tried to be constructive, my assignment required me to go fully radical. Embracing the challenge, I drafted our party's manifesto. One of my group mates volunteered to read it aloud to the room:

“Jobs are vanishing, school kids are regressing, and AI is evolving far too fast for humanity to keep under control. By 2030, human beings will be entirely obsolete and far more expensive than the cheapest algorithm. I propose we all retreat into the woods, live on honey, pancakes, and fresh meat, and back fringe political movements. Don't worry though: everyone will still have Wi-Fi, and GTA 6 will finally come out”.

The whole room burst out laughing. The French appreciate satire and deadpan absurdity, so our anti-tech manifesto was an instant hit. That is what makes these classes so memorable: beyond formal grammar, you learn how to pitch an argument with humor, improvise in a second language, and genuinely connect with your peers.