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Metabolic Labor Calculator logoMetabolic Labor Calculator 2.0

University course-evaluation case · 2026

Count the labor.
See where it moves.

A transparent time-budget calculator for AI-mediated course-evaluation work.

Why this exists

ClassRanked/Coursedog has been presented at Pitt as a way to reduce administrative work and use AI summaries to help interpret open-ended student feedback. Those gains are possible, but neither the vendor nor Pitt treats consequential use as frictionless: source checking, human judgment, learning, governance, disclosure, and support still take time.

Why “metabolic”?

AI output has to be absorbed into human and institutional practice. Metabolic labor names that often-hidden absorption work: reading, checking, reconciling, learning, governing, documenting, and deciding what one can responsibly stand behind.

Scope: this calculator estimates time. It does not decide whether AI summaries are accurate, fair, insightful, or worth using. Those are separate substantive questions.
Preliminary · illustrative · awaiting refinement

These are estimates, not an audited final accounting. The defaults combine documented workflow claims with explicit preliminary and scenario assumptions. The modeled range whiskers show how the result moves under reasonable alternative assumptions; they are not statistical confidence intervals. The purpose is to make hidden categories of metabolic labor visible and test the labor budget while better Pitt workload data are gathered. Every material default can be replaced in the weeds.

One download · airplane-mode ready for the calculator, HBS course, provenance marker, embedded documents, FAQ snapshot, and signing-statements audio. Live source links remain for documentation when a connection is available.

Choose a perspective

Same labor system, different vantage point.

Choose the vantage point. The 60-second path shows the default result immediately; the weeds path opens the assumptions one by one, with evidence at the point where it matters.

Individual faculty · rough result
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Illustrative estimate. The central result and modeled range depend on editable assumptions and should not be presented as definitive measured workload data.
Institutional anchor:
Bottom-line budget reconciliation
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Where the balance comes fromMove across the bars for category details. Click any bar to inspect evidence or revise that category without restarting.

Modeled ranges are assumption ranges, not statistical confidence intervals. Central estimates are intentionally rounded. Research is embedded inside the categories rather than separated from the calculation.

Pitt institutional anchor: open the full 2024 GenAI report →
Embedded primary source
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PDF preserved offline

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Still from the original Signing Statements Explainer recording
Related 2024 case · offline audio

Signing Statements Explainer

A 4:06 audio-only copy of the explainer referenced in the signing-statements deck. The still is preserved from the original recording.

Speech-compressed for offline phone use. The signing-statements PDF and permanent repository links remain available separately.