Lesson 92 · 3 min
Write essays with AI, honestly
AI can help you brainstorm, plan and polish an essay, while the ideas and the words stay yours.
Handing in an essay that AI wrote, as if it were yours, is a form of plagiarism at most schools and universities. It also skips the thinking that essays are meant to train.
There is plenty AI can do honestly. Brainstorm angles on a topic. Ask you questions that sharpen your argument. Point out where your draft is unclear, repeats itself or lacks evidence. Explain a grammar mistake so you can fix it.
A good order: you write the outline and first draft yourself, then ask for feedback, then revise with your own words. Keep your notes and drafts. They show your process if anyone asks.
Check your course rules on AI and say how you used it if they ask. AI can also invent quotes and references, so every source in your essay should be one you found and read.
Do it now
Feedback without rewriting
- 1. Take a draft paragraph you wrote yourself.
- 2. Paste it into the prompt below.
- 3. Revise it yourself based on the comments.
Here is a paragraph from my essay on [TOPIC]: [PASTE]. Do not rewrite it. Give me 3 comments: where my argument is weakest, where I need evidence, and one sentence that is unclear. For each, ask me a question that would help me fix it.
Quick check
Words from this lesson
- Hallucination
- When an AI states something false with confidence, such as a made-up fact, quote or source.
- AI literacy
- Knowing enough about how AI works to use it well, spot its mistakes and decide when not to use it.