Artificial Intelligence Taking Over College Essay Writing for High Schoolers: A Threat to Their Personal Growth and Skills
In the realm of college-level writing, instructors are now placing greater emphasis on teaching students to read thoughtfully as they are introduced to academic writing. The focus has shifted from grammatical correctness to original thinking and focused reading practice, as success in college writing hinges on developing original ideas and establishing them through evidence or interpretation.
Aaron Colton, Associate Teaching Professor and Director of First-Year Writing at Emory University, believes that writing is a fundamentally human process and AI should not play a significant role in the early stages of student writing. He prefers an original but messy paper over a grammatically perfect one that lacks new or interesting ideas.
The challenges students face in college writing classrooms did not begin with the advent of AI tools like ChatGPT. Students today are bright and motivated, but they are often pressured to see college as a means to a job, which can negatively impact their curiosity. High school English curricula often favor speed over depth in writing assignments, leaving students ill-prepared for the rigours of college-level writing.
Colton's research focuses on how students and authors write under pressure. He emphasises that writing doesn't just express ideas, it helps discover them. Outsourcing this discovery to AI removes a valuable part of the process. "There's no way to improve as a writer without also improving as a reader," Colton says.
Recent research from Microsoft suggests that using generative AI may diminish users' critical thinking. The challenges students face when asked to develop their own argument or interpret complex material in college are not due to lack of motivation, but due to lack of practice in thinking this way.
AI literacy can play a role in writing classes, but students should develop their own ideas first and then evaluate where AI fits in afterward. The personal statement in the college application process can be an opportunity for students to write for an audience that doesn't know them, engage in a process of rigorous revision, and discover new ideas about themselves or the world.
The use of generative AI like ChatGPT in college applications raises ethical concerns about academic integrity, transparency, and responsible use. Higher education institutions are concerned about plagiarism and cheating with AI use, prompting some to implement restrictions or bans to uphold academic integrity. Ethical use requires transparency, avoiding disclosure of private information, and responsible engagement with the tool.
AI can improve writing skills by providing feedback and enhancing creative writing, as shown even in primary education contexts. However, unchecked reliance may weaken students' own thinking, self-discipline, and digital ethics. Studies indicate that ChatGPT and similar tools help boost writing efficiency but risk students outsourcing thinking and failing to critically evaluate AI outputs. Educators suggest designing assignments that require critical analysis of AI-generated content and foster reflective, ethical use.
In summary, generative AI can be ethical and effective in college learning only with clear guidelines, transparency, and pedagogical strategies that emphasise critical thinking and academic integrity. Without this, it risks undermining students' writing skills and critical faculties. Institutions and educators are actively exploring how best to integrate AI ethically to enhance, not diminish, student learning.
Colton's advice for students writing a personal statement is to think about anything but college admissions as they write and use the time to scrap, rewrite, and revise their way to new ideas. Working through a hard draft, dealing with writer's block, and starting over is essential to becoming a thinking person.
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