Student Writing in the Age of AI
Recent advances in artificial intelligence are changing the way that many people approach writing. AI is evolving rapidly, and the Writing Center's staff are working to understand these rapid changes and how they affect all of us at SCC. We want to share how we view writing and AI at this point in time and present some issues that we hope you will consider as you make decisions about AI.
At the Writing Center, we believe that writing is an important form of human reasoning and communication. Two of the goals of writing are to promote critical thinking and to facilitate people better understanding each other, and generative AI cannot be used as a substitute for either of these. As writers, you possess unique life experiences, a specific point of view, and a particular voice that cannot be communicated adequately if you use generative AI to write for you.
Using the Writing Center as a Resource
Meeting with a Writing Center tutor provides a way for you to think through your ideas and organization at any stage of the writing process and to discuss how to make your own writing as clear as possible while still maintaining your own writing style. We also want to help you with AI-related challenges or questions in any way that we can, so please don’t hesitate to ask us if you have questions. In addition,we have some brief videos that provide additional information about AI.
SCC Writing Center Videos about AI and College Writing
We have included some links to brief online articles and other sources for the topics that we discuss below. For a more complete list of sources for further reading, see the final link, “Sources for Further Reading.”
Advantages of the Writing Process and Concerns about Relying Heavily on AI
The process of planning, writing, reflecting, and revising your writing projects helps you learn how to evaluate, synthesize, and organize information. It strengthens your ability to think critically and to communicate effectively. When you bypass this process by having an AI bot or agent write for you, you miss gaining skills that you will need in your academic, personal, and professional life. Some research also indicates that AI use may have negative effects on critical thinking skills.
AI and Academic Honesty
As a student, you should be aware that using generative AI to write papers or other writing assignments for you is usually considered academically dishonest and a violation of most instructors’ course policies. In other words, most instructors do not allow students to use large language models (LLMs) or other generative AI to completely write assignments for you. For the policies for each of your classes, you should check your class syllabus and assignments or ask your instructor.
Ways AI May Be Useful
Some students find Generative AI helpful as a tool for explaining a concept or breaking down the steps of a task. Generative AI may also be useful for assisting with writing in specific ways if your instructor allows it. These include asking a question about how to format a document, asking a specific question about a draft that you have written, checking grammar and punctuation, or creating graphs or other visual elements to include in writing. If your professor asks you to disclose how you used AI, be sure you do this. Some instructors do not want you using AI in any way for their assignments, so make sure that you are familiar with your instructors’ AI policies. We are always willing to help you figure out appropriate use of AI, but we will need to see your class syllabus and writing assignments in order to do this.
AI Hallucinations, Inaccuracies, and Privacy Concerns
If you use AI, you should be aware that LLMs are sometimes wrong or provide false information.
MIT page about AI hallucinations
If you submit writing to a LLM, like ChatGPT, to ask for feedback, also consider whether you are comfortable sharing the information in it with the company operating the model. LMMs may create privacy concerns because the companies who operate them often retain the information from the chats and use it to train new versions of the models.
Social and Environmental Impact of AI
We encourage you to think critically about AI use and the role it plays in our culture socially and environmentally. Generative AI reflects and intensifies many of the racial, ethnic, and gender biases in our culture.
Nature article about racial bias in AI
UN article about gender bias in AI
It also has an impact on the environment because of the amount of energy and water needed to operate the data centers that sustain it. The energy it uses contributes to carbon emissions that accelerate climate change, but determining the extent of this impact is complicated because AI companies usually are not transparent about energy use.
AI Detection and Being Flagged for AI Writing
The recent popularity of large language models also has led to Turnitin and other companies developing AI detection software, which many college instructors use to check student writing for AI-generated content. We know this can sometimes create anxiety and confusion for students. We have some suggestions we can share with you for keeping a record of your drafts and prewriting in case any of your instructors has questions about your writing process.
Sources for Further Reading about AI
If you're interested in reading more about artificial intelligence and the ways it's affecting education and the world in general, we have compiled a collection of relevant sources for you to check out below.