91原创

illustration of a generative AI robot writing with a quill pen
Writing in the Age of AI

Writing in the Age of AI

No technology has transformed writing as rapidly or deeply as ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence software (GenAI). With some despairing that writing as we know it is over and others energized by the new possibilities of generative AI, we argue that this moment is a pivotal one in the history of writing as a process, practice, and technology.

OHIO鈥檚 Department of English is a national leader in preparing faculty and students for this new writing landscape through the adoption of Dr. Paul Shovlin鈥檚 Critical AI Literacy Framework. This framework recognizes that effective practices鈥攚riting good prompts and choosing the best AI for the task鈥攊s really only one element of using an AI effectively. 

We also need rhetorical awareness of what our audience expects from us in a given situation. For instance, an apology written with AI usually hits wrong; it feels fake and insincere, as though we鈥檙e letting a machine apologize for us instead of doing the hard work ourselves. The success of our message relies on being seen as credible, and we give up that credibility when we ask an AI to write our apology. In contrast, most people recognize that much corporate content on social media has been created by someone other than the company owner. People are less likely to be upset if a corporation uses AI to create marketing posts than if it鈥檚 used to write an apology. 

Critical AI literacy also means that effective users are able to evaluate the ethical considerations of that use. Writers need to be able to examine the environmental, privacy, and intellectual property impacts of AI. Are those impacts worth what is gained? What if that environmental impact falls primarily on people who are already poor? Should AI companies be allowed to use other people鈥檚 intellectual property to train their AI (and then profit from subscription fees or advertising income)? These are just a few of the important ethical issues raised by generative AI.

Finally, true AI literacy only happens alongside subject matter knowledge. Subject matter experts know what the authorship norms are within their field, and they can also tell when an AI is hallucinating. Subject matter experts know how to get the most out of an AI and how to identify that an AI鈥檚 output is inadequate. The best prompt writing in the world won鈥檛 help you if you鈥檙e asking the wrong question.

These four components鈥攅ffective practices, rhetorical awareness, ethical considerations, and subject matter knowledge鈥攆orm the Composition Program鈥檚 approach to GenAI use.

How is OHIO鈥檚 Composition Program evolving with generative artificial intelligence software (GenAI)?

The Composition Program approaches work with GenAI with two underlying beliefs. First, that technologies have always shaped the writing that humans do. From stylus to papyrus to pencil, paper, typewriter, computer and now GenAI, new technologies change the way that we go about the work of writing. Second, GenAI is here to stay and so our program needs to prepare students to write both with and without AI assistance. 

How does OHIO create opportunities for students to develop as writers who can compose with GenAI in rhetorical, ethical, and effective ways?

The program is in the midst of a three-year plan (2024-2027) to integrate AI-enriched writing practices across OHIO鈥檚 writing curricula. Our Foundations course (ENG 1510) supports students as they develop a rhetorical framework for the use of GenAI and teaches students how to negotiate audience expectations around that use. In our BRICKS Advanced Writing Courses (ENG 2800, 2801, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2809) we offer students options to meet their personal and professional goals while supporting their own ethical stances toward GenAI. For instance, ENG 2800 integrates AI-supported research and composing practices throughout, while ENG 2806 teaches research skills through more traditional means. Students choose the course that meets their goals. The same is true in the department鈥檚 Writing Certificate (CTWRIT). Students who want to develop AI-enriched composing abilities can do so in 鈥淐omposing in New Media鈥 (ENG 3860), 鈥淐omposing for the Community鈥 (ENG 3870C), and in our new course, 鈥淐omposing with AI鈥 (ENG 3880).

Do we still need writing classes now that we have GenAI?

GenAIs produce good text at astonishing speeds. They will change the way that many people write. Yet being a skilled human writer has never been so important. GenAIs produce good text quickly but only after a skilled human writer tells it what to do. If a writer doesn鈥檛 understand the rhetorical situation they鈥檙e writing in鈥擶hat is my purpose? Who is my audience and what will be persuasive to them? What do I have to draw on as a writer?鈥攖he AI won鈥檛 produce good text. More importantly, an unskilled human writer can鈥檛 tell the difference between good AI-generated text and ineffective (or even ridiculous) AI-generated text. Teachers often discover students are cheating with AI because the text they鈥檝e submitted is ridiculous; the student didn鈥檛 understand the assignment and so didn鈥檛 realize that what AI churned out was wrong.

Students with an eye on their future careers should also be asking themselves If AI can write better than I can, then why would anyone hire me? A recent book by Bowen and Watson (2025), actually claims that 鈥淐-level writing鈥 is an 鈥淔鈥 in the age of AI. An AI can generate 鈥淐鈥 work quickly and cheaply. If all you can do is tell an AI to write something for you, then why should someone pay you?

This question of whether we still need writing classes also reveals some big assumptions about what writing is (and isn鈥檛). The value of writing isn鈥檛 just the product that gets created at the end. The process we go through to get there is also valuable鈥攕ometimes more so. Writing is a utilitarian tool for recording information or making sales pitches but it鈥檚 also an art form, a way of understanding the world, a means of thinking, and a tool for processing the events of one鈥檚 life. You don鈥檛 have to become a novelist in order for your own human-generated writing to be worthwhile. At OHIO, we want to support your growth as a human writer (who is also able to leverage AI) because writing is more than a document you send to your boss. We want you to be a strong enough writer that you can write your boss a fantastic document (perhaps using AI). But we also want you to write to figure out what you believe about GenAI, and, perhaps most importantly, write to make meaning of your life. GenAI is only good for the first thing.

What is OHIO鈥檚 Composition Program policy on using GenAI?

GenAIs are powerful tools for learning and for writing, but they are also destructive tools for learning and for your writing development when overused or used inappropriately. In some cases, using GenAI will undercut the purpose of an assignment and thus damage your learning, so your instructor may prohibit it. In other cases, your instructor may ask you to use GenAI for specific tasks or aims.

Students who do not abide by the GenAI policy are subject to the course鈥檚 plagiarism policy. This policy applies to all writing you do in a course, including major and minor writing projects and informal writing assignments such as discussion posts or response papers.

  • At the beginning of any writing project, you must talk with your instructor if you would like to use GenAI in that project. Your instructor may prohibit that use because it would hinder the goals of the assignment or your instructor may limit the ways that you use GenAI. You may also be required to provide a transcript of your chat sessions or other documentation of your GenAI use.
  • You must acknowledge your use of GenAI according to your instructor鈥檚 guidance. This might include a hyperlink, screenshot, a transcript related to your chat session, a brief 鈥淎cknowledgements鈥 paragraph or a sentence after the main body of your paper (not included in the word count), a Works Cited entry, etc. Acknowledgements should contain a short rationale about how your approach was appropriate, transformational, and/or how it did not undercut the learning outcomes for the course or assignment.
  • GenAI must be transformational, not transactional. This means that鈥攊f you have instructor permission鈥攜ou may work with a GenAI to refine your ideas and the way that you express them, but they must be your ideas and your language. Copying-and-pasting chunks of text from a GenAI is prohibited. You must get approval for a transformational use of GenAI with your instructor before using it and then document that use. 
Do OHIO鈥檚 composition instructors use GenAI to write student feedback?

No.

91原创 Composition faculty emphatically believe that receiving human feedback is an essential and irreplaceable part of the experience of growing as a writer. The faculty pledge to students that the feedback students receive was crafted by ourselves, not AI.

What if I don鈥檛 want to use GenAI?

A significant number of our students have critically examined GenAIs and made ethical decisions to avoid them because of their impacts on, for example, water supply. Others find that GenAIs make too many mistakes or don鈥檛 produce high-quality texts or steamroll students鈥 own writerly voices. These are legitimate concerns and we take them seriously. We encourage students who oppose the use of GenAI to talk with their instructor or the Director of Composition about choosing the most appropriate course for them. Students may also request an alternative assignment that doesn鈥檛 require the use of a GenAI. GenAIs may be here to stay but that doesn鈥檛 mean we all need to use them all the time or that people aren鈥檛 able to produce better texts.