Using AI to write? Disclose it.

Students sometimes get assignments that ask them to use AI to generate text (e.g., a social media post). Some instructors allow use of AI for some kinds of writing tasks, such as finding sources, or testing ideas, or checking for grammar errors. Regardless of how you use AI, you must always do two things: VERIFY and DISCLOSE.

VERIFY: To verify that AI-generated information is accurate and the source (book, article, website, newspaper) is real (not an AI hallucination), find the original. For books, journal articles, and newspaper articles, search the UI Library's databases using the title and author's name. For information from websites, follow the link and check the "about" section to find out who created the site. Google them. The best strategy? Ask a librarian!

DISCLOSE: If you used AI to generate content for an assignment (any kind of writing or images) you must disclose your use of it. See here for the Library guide to citing use of AI, and here for examples of disclosure statements on Princeton's website.

AI Brain

Great writers became great because of the effort they put in. They also became great thinkers because the hard work of writing - organizing ideas, finding the best words, making connections - literally builds the brain. Now that AI is everywhere, students worry (with good reason) about the effects on their learning. They are trying to figure out if it is possible to use AI in ways that help them become better writers and thinkers, instead of allowing it to sabotage the learning process. Here are some suggestions.

When the internet collapses, will I be able to do it myself?

If you are using AI to figure out how to do something yourself - explain a concept, make connections, write a better sentence, organize an argument - then it's helping your learning. But you won't know that you can do it yourself without actually trying to do it yourself. For example, you might ask AI to explain a concept to you in five different ways (a great strategy), but you won't know for sure that you actually understand it until you try to explain it to someone else. Write an explanation in your own words. Read it to your roommate. Write another explanation for your younger sibling. Another good strategy is to try explaining it yourself BEFORE you ask AI. The work of figuring out how much you already know activates the brain and helps prime you for learning.

Writing is a way of thinking. 
The process of writing helps us develop new insights, observations and connections.

Here are some examples of how you could use AI to build your writing skills:

  • Ask AI to explain important concepts: First write down what you think the concept means. Then ask AI to explain it to you in several different ways. E.g., What exactly does pathos mean? Explain again as if I was five years of age. Now explain it as if I was sixty. How do I analyze it in a rhetoric paper? Can you give me some examples? Then shut down the computer and write your own explanation.
  • Ask AI to explain the expectations for different kinds of writing: E.g. What is a literary analysis? I'm writing a research paper; what should it look like? What is a literature review? Then try to explain it to someone else.
  • Ask AI to explain how to structure a paper: First map out the way you think your paper should be structured. Then ask AI. E.g., How do I organize my Rhetoric paper? What sections should there be in a literature review? Why should I organize it this way? Are there other ways? Then close the computer and map out two or three different outlines for your paper.
  • Ask AI "why" questions and for "purpose" explanations: E.g., What is the purpose of an introduction / methods section? What makes for a good conclusion? What is the reader expecting this section? What should a writer do when writing a literature review? Why should the writer do A instead of B? Then explain it to your roommate.
  • Ask it to analyze examples and models: E.g., Here is an example of an introduction from the Economist. Why is this a good introduction? Can you explain what the writer is doing here? Can you break it down, sentence by sentence, and explain what the writer is doing in each sentence? Then close the example and try writing your own introduction.
  • Ask it for feedback: E.g., Here is the introduction to my paper. Is it clear? Does it explain the problem? Here is a paragraph from my literature paper. Do I have a good topic sentence? Do I back up my claim with evidence? Then close down the AI tool and implement the suggestions yourself. 

Write it yourself first. Ask for explanations. Request feedback. Try it yourself again.