Questions for Students Regarding Generative AI and Writing
As we all consider the use of Generative AI (GenAI)* (AI that generates new writing based on prompts) and Large Language Models (where many texts are assembled into a corpus to train the prediction models) in our writing, one of the best resources for if/when/how GenAI is allowed in your writing process for your college courses is your course instructor.
*Also, note that GenAI generally indicates a use of things such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, Microsoft Copilot, rather than Grammarly or spell check. However, AI-enabled Grammarly and many other environments or integrations may complicate these distinctions.
Here are some productive questions to ask your instructor based on aspects of your writing process:
➔ Reading & Researching
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to explain keywords or concepts?
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to summarize a text?
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to paraphrase a text?
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to suggest keywords, journals, scholars in a field, or a school of thought?
➔ Understanding an Assignment Prompt
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to summarize, paraphrase, or explain an assignment prompt?
- Is it allowable to ask GenAI questions about discipline or genre in an assignment?
- Is it allowable to ask GenAI to create a model text or explain how to create parts of an assignment (e.g. a literature review)?
➔ Outlining & Drafting
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to brainstorm ideas before starting to write?
- Is it allowable to generate an outline using GenAI?
- Is it allowable to generate the first draft of an assignment using GenAI?
- If it is allowable to use GenAI throughout drafting, are there requirements for citing GenAI? Should citing take place through sentence-level citations, a disclosure statement, or both?
- Are there models for the requirements for citing?
- If the same prompt can generate a different response, should all prompts and responses be saved as an addendum to a piece of writing?
➔ Revision and/or Editing
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to obtain suggestions for organization, structure, or content of an existing draft?
- Is it allowable to use GenAI to identify sentence-level suggestions or corrections?
➔ Other Cases
- Is it allowable to use GenAI for computational or research practices? (e.g. assignments involving calculations, formulas, or statistics?)
- Is GenAI allowable in visual or multimodal forms, such as for generating images, audio, or video?