AI and Academic Writing: A Balanced Standard

Artificial intelligence has entered the university classroom, raising urgent questions about fairness, skill, and authenticity in student writing. To address this, I propose a simple principle: separate writing as a skill from writing as a tool.

Every student should be required to take and pass a foundational writing class where the use of AI is strictly prohibited. Writing is not only a means of communication but also a discipline of thought, clarity, and self-expression. To outsource that process to AI in the training stage is to weaken the very skill that higher education should cultivate.

Beyond that mandatory writing class, however, AI should be treated not as a cheating but as a legitimate instrument. In courses where writing serves primarily as a vehicle for conveying subject knowledge—history, economics, biology, or engineering—the central issue is not the mechanics of writing but the quality of ideas, evidence, and analysis. In such contexts, AI can function like a calculator or a library: a tool to refine and accelerate the academic process, not to undermine it.

This dual approach preserves the integrity of writing as a human skill while embracing the reality of AI as an academic tool. It sets a clear boundary: master the craft first, then use the technology.

I use ChatGPT to refine my writing. This space exists purely for sharing my thoughts and ideas.