How AI Affected Essay Writing — Overview of the Coming Future

We dream of the future, and it is already coming, showing us new solutions to simplify our life and improve their quality. One of the areas undergoing the greatest impact of AI development is academic writing. This impact can hardly be called exclusively positive, but it is difficult to miss the benefits.

There are many students using AI to write papers. It can already be difficult to distinguish between an essay written by a person and an essay written by AI. In this article, you will learn what has changed in higher education with the advent of non-human intelligence and how you can boost your academic results without harming your studies.

Artificial Intelligence: General Postulates

First, let’s give a simple and clear definition of AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technologies and algorithms that perform a wide variety of tasks that have hitherto required the presence of a human mind.

It includes such areas as Data Science, Neural Networks, Machine Learning, and Big Data. Specialists develop new methods, make predictions, and train machine intelligence to offer new solutions, applications, and technologies to a variety of areas.

It is data analysis that allows students to resort to the use of new technology in their studies. Every tool was at first someone’s idea and hypothesis, before becoming a full-scale software for solving serious academic problems.

Understanding of Artificial Intelligence in Writing

Three letters that make hearts beat faster — GPT. Only the lazy did not ask the sensational software a question. Admittedly, professors around the world sounded the alarm. Fear for the expediency of higher education began to rise rapidly with the advent of AI. It became clear that prohibiting the use of digital essay writing tools is pointless. 

Therefore, a regulatory system and an ethics policy are now being developed that not only nullifies the harm of using AI but also demonstrates the benefits of this invention.

AI-generated essays and papers

The very first thing where students use machine intelligence is AI-generated texts. This was the reason for the limitations of the use of AI capabilities in colleges. It blurred the picture of the objective level of students’ knowledge because it is difficult to distinguish between human writing and generated writing. 

However, now there are a bunch of tools that recognize the generated text and expose dishonest actions on the part of students. So, the following tools are used to generate texts:

• Chat GPT
• Copy.ai
• Jasper
• Quillbot
• Rytr
• Frase

We also publish a list of programs with which you can check how honest you are when dealing with your assignment?

• Winston
• Originality AI
• Zero GPT
• CopyLeaks
• Sapling

We do not encourage thoughtless use of artificial intelligence writing tools. There must be balance in everything.

AI grammar-checking systems

A more innocuous and useful way to use machine intelligence is to check the spelling of your text. No one cancels independent knowledge of orthography, punctuation, and syntax, however, tools such as Grammarly, Enago, Merudio, Grammarbot, and others help students quickly check essays for errors and typos, saving valuable time.

The most used tool still remains Grammarly. It is a very handy program, available all over the world, making the proofreading process smooth and efficient. How does Grammarly work? Algorithms implemented in Grammarly flag possible errors and give suggestions to improve your text:

• grammar errors
• spelling errors
• usage errors
• wordiness
• style
• tone
• punctuation
• plagiarism.

A Blended Approach to AI Academic Writing

No matter how tough the restrictions at the university are, students keep using non-human intelligence and creating serious obstacles for themselves. We want to offer one of the possible solutions to this issue, so as not to abandon developing technologies, but to do it more ethically.

For example, you need to write an essay on the topic “The French Revolution: A Unique Transformation of the Political Order”. This is not the most difficult and not the easiest topic, but it requires basic knowledge of world history and analytical skills. The main problem is a large number of already written essays on this topic, i.e. it is challenging to bring novelty and relevance. How can artificial intelligence help us here?

No, the request to the ChatGPT “Write an essay on the topic …” is no longer suitable. This is contrary to academic ethics. However, you can ask machine intelligence to generate an essay outline for you, highlighting those points that are most often not covered in this topic. A good outline will help you write a good essay, and AI is a great solution for creating the skeleton of your text.

Another way to use artificial technology wisely is to ask for a list of synonyms, interesting facts, literature, references, etc. These things are not contrary to the ethics of the scientific community and save a lot of time. The ability to keep this delicate balance will boost your knowledge and save the learning process from unnecessary things.

So let’s summarize what has been said and highlight several ways to use AI for writing papers college-friendly:

• creating an outline
• text editing
• a selection of synonyms
• highlighting significant moments
• selection of literature
• text formatting.

This is the blended approach. Non-human assistance helps you choose the best solution for you to follow on your own. Artificial intelligence is not about replacing a writer but about the collaboration of the artificial and the human. Such a tandem can lead to great success.

AI Replacing Writers: New Horizons — New Risks

Of course, there is an ongoing debate in the world of science that machine intelligence threatens higher education and can replace writers. These thoughts are not unfounded, and for this, experts are working on the ethical foundations of AI. However, Human writing will remain a priority in the near future for the following reasons:

AI info is often outdated ?️

Non-human intelligence does not make its own judgments and bases its conclusions on data available on the network. The database of many AI tools is not updated as often as we would like. Therefore, it is not always possible to rely on the facts given by the software without verification.

AI lacks contextual knowledge ?

Context is just a wonderful thing! And only a human possesses contexts flawlessly. It is the most human concept. Machine intelligence cannot make judgments based on context. And this is the biggest problem that needs to be addressed. We are sure that Big Data analysts will find solutions, but so far humans are superior to AI.

AI offers biased content ?

Machine intelligence is subject to the larger culture and makes judgments on what is being pushed more into society at the moment. AI cannot make neutral judgments too. Without this skill, it is impossible to write logical and reasonable papers. And if you look ahead, neutral judgments are about artificial intelligence becoming self-aware. It is not known what prospects and risks such a course of events carries.

AI lacks empathy ?

Empathy is the definition of humanity. Emotional overtones are not available to machine tools. This can lead to inappropriate responses. This point is especially important in the field of medicine and biology writing. Therefore, crossing the line of collaboration here is not only wrong but also dangerous.

The Future of Writing with AI

Once upon a time, the future was a stationary computer and a DVD. Now it is the cultivation of artificial organs. The future is changing, demands are changing, and life is changing. Artificial intelligence essay writing also does not stand still. We must not forget that non-human intelligence was created by man, and this makes education even more valuable: “What else can we do?”

The Ethics of AI

Ethics is what the world is talking about when it comes to artificial intelligence. The ethics of machine intelligence is a whole direction that considers the moral side of the issue and the relationship between human behavior and AI systems. So-called machine ethics touches the realm of academic writing as well.

Specialists are working to ensure the transparent and controlled use of artificial solutions so as not to ruin the quality of education around the world. Now machine intelligence is used in the following areas: automating routine tasks, creating educational applications and content, and personalizing learning.

Editing and Revision

We see the greatest perspective in improving the editing and revision functions. The same Grammarly successfully copes with editing functions, but slips are inevitable. It does not always understand where the mistake is, and where the author’s style is, but it’s absolutely okay. 

In the future, with a high degree of probability, AI will unmistakably correct the style, offering a more suitable option for a particular task. Thus, now the developers need to work not on adding new features to the academic writing sphere, but on improving and reducing the likelihood of slips to zero.

New Forms of Essays

We are used to the fact that essay creation is always writing. What if machine intelligence could bring even more creativity to the process of creating a smart product by adding multimedia? In the future, students will be able to add digital touch by adding AI-made videos, slides, images, voiceovers, and more. This is again about blended technology, and it is beautiful and effective!

Pros and Cons of AI-based Writing

So we came to the conclusion that the use of new technology in education is possible but requires strict regulation. So here are the pros and cons of using AI in academic writing.

✅ New ideas

It happens that you just cannot decide on the topic of the essay. Non-human intelligence can give you an infinite number of ideas for your request. Want a topic in geology or law? Just ask!

✅ Time-saving

You don’t have to think about an outline if you refer to AI. You will be able to make an essay plan depending on the type of essay, for example, argumentative or descriptive, and indicate the necessary arguments for disclosure.

✅ Editing and Proofreading

Much has been said about this. Lion’s share of texts can be delegated to machine intelligence tools, which check texts many times faster than the human mind. This is not only a help that students can take advantage of, but also an opportunity for teachers to check assignment volumes without wasting their personal time.

❌A Threat to Academic Education

AI is a simplification of many educational processes, which is used by many students to save time. This, in turn, leads to the fact that learning activity loses its original purpose. Balance matters.

❌Degenerate writing

No matter how scary it may sound, but by abusing AI, students stop thinking independently. Losing this unique skill of the human mind is very scary. After all, it is thanks to creative thinking that we have come to the benefits of artificial intelligence.

On a Final Note

Artificial Intelligence is a new milestone in the history of mankind, which is on a par with the industrial revolution in importance. Academic writing, and education in general, are undergoing tremendous change to make the world a better place. We will witness even more interesting innovations that allow you to write better, faster, and more thoughtfully. And don’t forget that an artificial intelligence essay cannot yet be created completely without the involvement of the human mind?