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Should I Use ChatGPT to Write My Essays?

Everything high school and college students need to know about using — and not using — ChatGPT for writing essays.

Jessica A. Kent

ChatGPT is one of the most buzzworthy technologies today.

In addition to other generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, it is expected to change the world. In academia, students and professors are preparing for the ways that ChatGPT will shape education, and especially how it will impact a fundamental element of any course: the academic essay.

Students can use ChatGPT to generate full essays based on a few simple prompts. But can AI actually produce high quality work, or is the technology just not there yet to deliver on its promise? Students may also be asking themselves if they should use AI to write their essays for them and what they might be losing out on if they did.

AI is here to stay, and it can either be a help or a hindrance depending on how you use it. Read on to become better informed about what ChatGPT can and can’t do, how to use it responsibly to support your academic assignments, and the benefits of writing your own essays.

What is Generative AI?

Artificial intelligence isn’t a twenty-first century invention. Beginning in the 1950s, data scientists started programming computers to solve problems and understand spoken language. AI’s capabilities grew as computer speeds increased and today we use AI for data analysis, finding patterns, and providing insights on the data it collects.

But why the sudden popularity in recent applications like ChatGPT? This new generation of AI goes further than just data analysis. Instead, generative AI creates new content. It does this by analyzing large amounts of data — GPT-3 was trained on 45 terabytes of data, or a quarter of the Library of Congress — and then generating new content based on the patterns it sees in the original data.

It’s like the predictive text feature on your phone; as you start typing a new message, predictive text makes suggestions of what should come next based on data from past conversations. Similarly, ChatGPT creates new text based on past data. With the right prompts, ChatGPT can write marketing content, code, business forecasts, and even entire academic essays on any subject within seconds.

But is generative AI as revolutionary as people think it is, or is it lacking in real intelligence?

The Drawbacks of Generative AI

It seems simple. You’ve been assigned an essay to write for class. You go to ChatGPT and ask it to write a five-paragraph academic essay on the topic you’ve been assigned. You wait a few seconds and it generates the essay for you!

But ChatGPT is still in its early stages of development, and that essay is likely not as accurate or well-written as you’d expect it to be. Be aware of the drawbacks of having ChatGPT complete your assignments.

It’s not intelligence, it’s statistics

One of the misconceptions about AI is that it has a degree of human intelligence. However, its intelligence is actually statistical analysis, as it can only generate “original” content based on the patterns it sees in already existing data and work.

It “hallucinates”

Generative AI models often provide false information — so much so that there’s a term for it: “AI hallucination.” OpenAI even has a warning on its home screen , saying that “ChatGPT may produce inaccurate information about people, places, or facts.” This may be due to gaps in its data, or because it lacks the ability to verify what it’s generating. 

It doesn’t do research  

If you ask ChatGPT to find and cite sources for you, it will do so, but they could be inaccurate or even made up.

This is because AI doesn’t know how to look for relevant research that can be applied to your thesis. Instead, it generates content based on past content, so if a number of papers cite certain sources, it will generate new content that sounds like it’s a credible source — except it likely may not be.

There are data privacy concerns

When you input your data into a public generative AI model like ChatGPT, where does that data go and who has access to it? 

Prompting ChatGPT with original research should be a cause for concern — especially if you’re inputting study participants’ personal information into the third-party, public application. 

JPMorgan has restricted use of ChatGPT due to privacy concerns, Italy temporarily blocked ChatGPT in March 2023 after a data breach, and Security Intelligence advises that “if [a user’s] notes include sensitive data … it enters the chatbot library. The user no longer has control over the information.”

It is important to be aware of these issues and take steps to ensure that you’re using the technology responsibly and ethically. 

It skirts the plagiarism issue

AI creates content by drawing on a large library of information that’s already been created, but is it plagiarizing? Could there be instances where ChatGPT “borrows” from previous work and places it into your work without citing it? Schools and universities today are wrestling with this question of what’s plagiarism and what’s not when it comes to AI-generated work.

To demonstrate this, one Elon University professor gave his class an assignment: Ask ChatGPT to write an essay for you, and then grade it yourself. 

“Many students expressed shock and dismay upon learning the AI could fabricate bogus information,” he writes, adding that he expected some essays to contain errors, but all of them did. 

His students were disappointed that “major tech companies had pushed out AI technology without ensuring that the general population understands its drawbacks” and were concerned about how many embraced such a flawed tool.

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How to Use AI as a Tool to Support Your Work

As more students are discovering, generative AI models like ChatGPT just aren’t as advanced or intelligent as they may believe. While AI may be a poor option for writing your essay, it can be a great tool to support your work.

Generate ideas for essays

Have ChatGPT help you come up with ideas for essays. For example, input specific prompts, such as, “Please give me five ideas for essays I can write on topics related to WWII,” or “Please give me five ideas for essays I can write comparing characters in twentieth century novels.” Then, use what it provides as a starting point for your original research.

Generate outlines

You can also use ChatGPT to help you create an outline for an essay. Ask it, “Can you create an outline for a five paragraph essay based on the following topic” and it will create an outline with an introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, and a suggested thesis statement. Then, you can expand upon the outline with your own research and original thought.

Generate titles for your essays

Titles should draw a reader into your essay, yet they’re often hard to get right. Have ChatGPT help you by prompting it with, “Can you suggest five titles that would be good for a college essay about [topic]?”

The Benefits of Writing Your Essays Yourself

Asking a robot to write your essays for you may seem like an easy way to get ahead in your studies or save some time on assignments. But, outsourcing your work to ChatGPT can negatively impact not just your grades, but your ability to communicate and think critically as well. It’s always the best approach to write your essays yourself.

Create your own ideas

Writing an essay yourself means that you’re developing your own thoughts, opinions, and questions about the subject matter, then testing, proving, and defending those thoughts. 

When you complete school and start your career, projects aren’t simply about getting a good grade or checking a box, but can instead affect the company you’re working for — or even impact society. Being able to think for yourself is necessary to create change and not just cross work off your to-do list.

Building a foundation of original thinking and ideas now will help you carve your unique career path in the future.

Develop your critical thinking and analysis skills

In order to test or examine your opinions or questions about a subject matter, you need to analyze a problem or text, and then use your critical thinking skills to determine the argument you want to make to support your thesis. Critical thinking and analysis skills aren’t just necessary in school — they’re skills you’ll apply throughout your career and your life.

Improve your research skills

Writing your own essays will train you in how to conduct research, including where to find sources, how to determine if they’re credible, and their relevance in supporting or refuting your argument. Knowing how to do research is another key skill required throughout a wide variety of professional fields.

Learn to be a great communicator

Writing an essay involves communicating an idea clearly to your audience, structuring an argument that a reader can follow, and making a conclusion that challenges them to think differently about a subject. Effective and clear communication is necessary in every industry.

Be impacted by what you’re learning about : 

Engaging with the topic, conducting your own research, and developing original arguments allows you to really learn about a subject you may not have encountered before. Maybe a simple essay assignment around a work of literature, historical time period, or scientific study will spark a passion that can lead you to a new major or career.

Resources to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills

While there are many rewards to writing your essays yourself, the act of writing an essay can still be challenging, and the process may come easier for some students than others. But essay writing is a skill that you can hone, and students at Harvard Summer School have access to a number of on-campus and online resources to assist them.

Students can start with the Harvard Summer School Writing Center , where writing tutors can offer you help and guidance on any writing assignment in one-on-one meetings. Tutors can help you strengthen your argument, clarify your ideas, improve the essay’s structure, and lead you through revisions. 

The Harvard libraries are a great place to conduct your research, and its librarians can help you define your essay topic, plan and execute a research strategy, and locate sources. 

Finally, review the “ The Harvard Guide to Using Sources ,” which can guide you on what to cite in your essay and how to do it. Be sure to review the “Tips For Avoiding Plagiarism” on the “ Resources to Support Academic Integrity ” webpage as well to help ensure your success.

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The Future of AI in the Classroom

ChatGPT and other generative AI models are here to stay, so it’s worthwhile to learn how you can leverage the technology responsibly and wisely so that it can be a tool to support your academic pursuits. However, nothing can replace the experience and achievement gained from communicating your own ideas and research in your own academic essays.

About the Author

Jessica A. Kent is a freelance writer based in Boston, Mass. and a Harvard Extension School alum. Her digital marketing content has been featured on Fast Company, Forbes, Nasdaq, and other industry websites; her essays and short stories have been featured in North American Review, Emerson Review, Writer’s Bone, and others.

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How to Get ChatGPT to Write an Essay: Prompts, Outlines, & More

Last Updated: June 2, 2024 Fact Checked

Getting ChatGPT to Write the Essay

Using ai to help you write, expert interview.

This article was co-authored by Bryce Warwick, JD and by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA . Bryce Warwick is currently the President of Warwick Strategies, an organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area offering premium, personalized private tutoring for the GMAT, LSAT and GRE. Bryce has a JD from the George Washington University Law School. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 50,788 times.

Are you curious about using ChatGPT to write an essay? While most instructors have tools that make it easy to detect AI-written essays, there are ways you can use OpenAI's ChatGPT to write papers without worrying about plagiarism or getting caught. In addition to writing essays for you, ChatGPT can also help you come up with topics, write outlines, find sources, check your grammar, and even format your citations. This wikiHow article will teach you the best ways to use ChatGPT to write essays, including helpful example prompts that will generate impressive papers.

Things You Should Know

• To have ChatGPT write an essay, tell it your topic, word count, type of essay, and facts or viewpoints to include.
• ChatGPT is also useful for generating essay topics, writing outlines, and checking grammar.
• Because ChatGPT can make mistakes and trigger AI-detection alarms, it's better to use AI to assist with writing than have it do the writing.

• Before using the OpenAI's ChatGPT to write your essay, make sure you understand your instructor's policies on AI tools. Using ChatGPT may be against the rules, and it's easy for instructors to detect AI-written essays.
• While you can use ChatGPT to write a polished-looking essay, there are drawbacks. Most importantly, ChatGPT cannot verify facts or provide references. This means that essays created by ChatGPT may contain made-up facts and biased content. [1] X Research source It's best to use ChatGPT for inspiration and examples instead of having it write the essay for you.

• The topic you want to write about.
• Essay length, such as word or page count. Whether you're writing an essay for a class, college application, or even a cover letter , you'll want to tell ChatGPT how much to write.
• Other assignment details, such as type of essay (e.g., personal, book report, etc.) and points to mention.
• If you're writing an argumentative or persuasive essay , know the stance you want to take so ChatGPT can argue your point.
• If you have notes on the topic that you want to include, you can also provide those to ChatGPT.
• When you plan an essay, think of a thesis, a topic sentence, a body paragraph, and the examples you expect to present in each paragraph.
• It can be like an outline and not an extensive sentence-by-sentence structure. It should be a good overview of how the points relate.

• "Write a 2000-word college essay that covers different approaches to gun violence prevention in the United States. Include facts about gun laws and give ideas on how to improve them."
• This prompt not only tells ChatGPT the topic, length, and grade level, but also that the essay is personal. ChatGPT will write the essay in the first-person point of view.
• "Write a 4-page college application essay about an obstacle I have overcome. I am applying to the Geography program and want to be a cartographer. The obstacle is that I have dyslexia. Explain that I have always loved maps, and that having dyslexia makes me better at making them."

Tyrone Showers

Be specific when using ChatGPT. Clear and concise prompts outlining your exact needs help ChatGPT tailor its response. Specify the desired outcome (e.g., creative writing, informative summary, functional resume), any length constraints (word or character count), and the preferred emotional tone (formal, humorous, etc.)

• In our essay about gun control, ChatGPT did not mention school shootings. If we want to discuss this topic in the essay, we can use the prompt, "Discuss school shootings in the essay."
• Let's say we review our college entrance essay and realize that we forgot to mention that we grew up without parents. Add to the essay by saying, "Mention that my parents died when I was young."
• In the Israel-Palestine essay, ChatGPT explored two options for peace: A 2-state solution and a bi-state solution. If you'd rather the essay focus on a single option, ask ChatGPT to remove one. For example, "Change my essay so that it focuses on a bi-state solution."

Pay close attention to the content ChatGPT generates. If you use ChatGPT often, you'll start noticing its patterns, like its tendency to begin articles with phrases like "in today's digital world." Once you spot patterns, you can refine your prompts to steer ChatGPT in a better direction and avoid repetitive content.

• "Give me ideas for an essay about the Israel-Palestine conflict."
• "Ideas for a persuasive essay about a current event."
• "Give me a list of argumentative essay topics about COVID-19 for a Political Science 101 class."

• "Create an outline for an argumentative essay called "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Economy."
• "Write an outline for an essay about positive uses of AI chatbots in schools."
• "Create an outline for a short 2-page essay on disinformation in the 2016 election."

• "Find peer-reviewed sources for advances in using MRNA vaccines for cancer."
• "Give me a list of sources from academic journals about Black feminism in the movie Black Panther."
• "Give me sources for an essay on current efforts to ban children's books in US libraries."

• "Write a 4-page college paper about how global warming is changing the automotive industry in the United States."
• "Write a 750-word personal college entrance essay about how my experience with homelessness as a child has made me more resilient."
• You can even refer to the outline you created with ChatGPT, as the AI bot can reference up to 3000 words from the current conversation. For example: "Write a 1000 word argumentative essay called 'The Impact of COVID-19 on the United States Economy' using the outline you provided. Argue that the government should take more action to support businesses affected by the pandemic."

• One way to do this is to paste a list of the sources you've used, including URLs, book titles, authors, pages, publishers, and other details, into ChatGPT along with the instruction "Create an MLA Works Cited page for these sources."
• You can also ask ChatGPT to provide a list of sources, and then build a Works Cited or References page that includes those sources. You can then replace sources you didn't use with the sources you did use.

Expert Q&A

• Because it's easy for teachers, hiring managers, and college admissions offices to spot AI-written essays, it's best to use your ChatGPT-written essay as a guide to write your own essay. Using the structure and ideas from ChatGPT, write an essay in the same format, but using your own words. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Always double-check the facts in your essay, and make sure facts are backed up with legitimate sources. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you see an error that says ChatGPT is at capacity , wait a few moments and try again. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Using ChatGPT to write or assist with your essay may be against your instructor's rules. Make sure you understand the consequences of using ChatGPT to write or assist with your essay. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• ChatGPT-written essays may include factual inaccuracies, outdated information, and inadequate detail. [3] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about completing school assignments, check out our in-depth interview with Bryce Warwick, JD .

• ↑ https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6783457-what-is-chatgpt
• ↑ https://platform.openai.com/examples/default-essay-outline
• ↑ https://www.ipl.org/div/chatgpt/

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How ChatGPT (and other AI chatbots) can help you write an essay

ChatGPT  is capable of doing many different things very well, with one of the biggest standout features being its ability to compose all sorts of text within seconds, including songs, poems, bedtime stories, and essays . 

The chatbot's writing abilities are not only fun to experiment with, but can help provide assistance with everyday tasks. Whether you are a student, a working professional, or just getting stuff done, we constantly take time out of our day to compose emails, texts, posts, and more. ChatGPT can help you claim some of that time back by helping you brainstorm and then compose any text you need. 

How to use ChatGPT to write: Code | Excel formulas | Resumes  | Cover letters  

Contrary to popular belief, ChatGPT can do much more than just write an essay for you from scratch (which would be considered plagiarism). A more useful way to use the chatbot is to have it guide your writing process. 

Below, we show you how to use ChatGPT to do both the writing and assisting, as well as some other helpful writing tips. 

How ChatGPT can help you write an essay

If you are looking to use ChatGPT to support or replace your writing, here are five different techniques to explore. 

It is also worth noting before you get started that other AI chatbots can output the same results as ChatGPT or are even better, depending on your needs.

Also: The best AI chatbots of 2024: ChatGPT and alternatives

For example,  Copilot  has access to the internet, and as a result, it can source its answers from recent information and current events. Copilot also includes footnotes linking back to the original source for all of its responses, making the chatbot a more valuable tool if you're writing a paper on a more recent event, or if you want to verify your sources.

Regardless of which AI chatbot you pick, you can use the tips below to get the most out of your prompts and from AI assistance.

1. Use ChatGPT to generate essay ideas

Before you can even get started writing an essay, you need to flesh out the idea. When professors assign essays, they generally give students a prompt that gives them leeway for their own self-expression and analysis. 

As a result, students have the task of finding the angle to approach the essay on their own. If you have written an essay recently, you know that finding the angle is often the trickiest part -- and this is where ChatGPT can help. 

Also: ChatGPT vs. Copilot: Which AI chatbot is better for you?

All you need to do is input the assignment topic, include as much detail as you'd like -- such as what you're thinking about covering -- and let ChatGPT do the rest. For example, based on a paper prompt I had in college, I asked:

Can you help me come up with a topic idea for this assignment, "You will write a research paper or case study on a leadership topic of your choice." I would like it to include Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid, and possibly a historical figure. 

Also: I'm a ChatGPT pro but this quick course taught me new tricks, and you can take it for free

Within seconds, the chatbot produced a response that provided me with the title of the essay, options of historical figures I could focus my article on, and insight on what information I could include in my paper, with specific examples of a case study I could use. 

2. Use the chatbot to create an outline

Once you have a solid topic, it's time to start brainstorming what you actually want to include in the essay. To facilitate the writing process, I always create an outline, including all the different points I want to touch upon in my essay. However, the outline-writing process is usually tedious. 

With ChatGPT, all you have to do is ask it to write the outline for you. 

Also: Thanks to my 5 favorite AI tools, I'm working smarter now

Using the topic that ChatGPT helped me generate in step one, I asked the chatbot to write me an outline by saying: 

Can you create an outline for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

After a couple of seconds, the chatbot produced a holistic outline divided into seven different sections, with three different points under each section. 

This outline is thorough and can be condensed for a shorter essay or elaborated on for a longer paper. If you don't like something or want to tweak the outline further, you can do so either manually or with more instructions to ChatGPT. 

As mentioned before, since Copilot is connected to the internet, if you use Copilot to produce the outline, it will even include links and sources throughout, further expediting your essay-writing process. 

3. Use ChatGPT to find sources

Now that you know exactly what you want to write, it's time to find reputable sources to get your information. If you don't know where to start, you can just ask ChatGPT. 

Also: How to make ChatGPT provide sources and citations

All you need to do is ask the AI to find sources for your essay topic. For example, I asked the following: 

Can you help me find sources for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

The chatbot output seven sources, with a bullet point for each that explained what the source was and why it could be useful. 

Also:   How to use ChatGPT to make charts and tables

The one caveat you will want to be aware of when using ChatGPT for sources is that it does not have access to information after 2021, so it will not be able to suggest the freshest sources. If you want up-to-date information, you can always use Copilot. 

Another perk of using Copilot is that it automatically links to sources in its answers. 

4. Use ChatGPT to write an essay

It is worth noting that if you take the text directly from the chatbot and submit it, your work could be considered a form of plagiarism since it is not your original work. As with any information taken from another source, text generated by an AI should be clearly identified and credited in your work.

Also: ChatGPT will now remember its past conversations with you (if you want it to)

In most educational institutions, the penalties for plagiarism are severe, ranging from a failing grade to expulsion from the school. A better use of ChatGPT's writing features would be to use it to create a sample essay to guide your writing. 

If you still want ChatGPT to create an essay from scratch, enter the topic and the desired length, and then watch what it generates. For example, I input the following text: 

Can you write a five-paragraph essay on the topic, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

Within seconds, the chatbot gave the exact output I required: a coherent, five-paragraph essay on the topic. You could then use that text to guide your own writing. 

Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?

At this point, it's worth remembering how tools like ChatGPT work : they put words together in a form that they think is statistically valid, but they don't know if what they are saying is true or accurate. 

As a result, the output you receive might include invented facts, details, or other oddities. The output might be a useful starting point for your own work, but don't expect it to be entirely accurate, and always double-check the content. 

5. Use ChatGPT to co-edit your essay

Once you've written your own essay, you can use ChatGPT's advanced writing capabilities to edit the piece for you. 

You can simply tell the chatbot what you want it to edit. For example, I asked ChatGPT to edit our five-paragraph essay for structure and grammar, but other options could have included flow, tone, and more. 

Also: AI meets AR as ChatGPT is now available on the Apple Vision Pro

Once you ask the tool to edit your essay, it will prompt you to paste your text into the chatbot. ChatGPT will then output your essay with corrections made. This feature is particularly useful because ChatGPT edits your essay more thoroughly than a basic proofreading tool, as it goes beyond simply checking spelling. 

You can also co-edit with the chatbot, asking it to take a look at a specific paragraph or sentence, and asking it to rewrite or fix the text for clarity. Personally, I find this feature very helpful. 

If these chatbots could talk: The most popular ways people are using AI tools

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How to Write Your Essay Using ChatGPT

5-minute read

• 2nd May 2023

It’s tempting, isn’t it? You’ve read about and probably also witnessed how quickly ChatGPT can knock up text, seemingly in any genre or style and of any length, in less time than it takes you to make a cup of tea. However, getting ChatGPT to write your essay for you would be plagiarism . Universities and colleges are alive to the issue, and you may face serious academic penalties if you’re found to have used AI in that way.

So that’s that, right? Not necessarily.

This post is not about how to get ChatGPT to write your essay . It’s about how you can use the tool to help yourself write an essay .

What Is ChatGPT?

Let’s start with the basics. ChatGPT is one of several chatbots that can answer questions in a conversational style, as if the answer were coming from a human. It provides answers based on information it receives in development and in response to prompts you provide.

In that respect, like a human, ChatGPT is limited by the information it has. Where it lacks the information, it has a tendency to fill the gaps regardless . This action is dangerous if you’re relying on the accuracy of the information, and it’s another good reason you should not get ChatGPT to write your essay for you.

How Can You Use ChatGPT to Help With Your Essay?

Forget about the much talked-about writing skills of ChatGPT – writing is your thing here. Instead, think of ChatGPT as your assistant. Here are some ideas for how you can make it work for you.

Essay Prompts

If your task is to come up with your own essay topic but you find yourself staring at a blank page, you can use ChatGPT for inspiration. Your prompt could look something like this:

ChatGPT can offer several ideas. The choice of which one to write about (and you may, of course, still come up with one of your own) will be up to you, based on what interests you and the topic’s potential for in-depth analysis.

Essay Outlines

Having decided on your essay topic – or perhaps you’ve already been given one by your instructor – you may be struggling to figure out how to structure the essay. You can use ChatGPT to suggest an outline. Your prompt can be along these lines:

Just as you should not use ChatGPT to write an essay for you, you should not use it to research one – that’s your job.

If, however, you’re struggling to understand a particular extract, you can ask ChatGPT to summarize it or explain it in simpler terms.

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That said, you can’t rely on ChatGPT to be factually accurate in the information it provides, even when you think the information would be in its database, as we discovered in another post. Indeed, when we asked ChatGPT whether we should fact-check its information, the response was:

An appropriate use of ChatGPT for research would be to ask for academic resources for further reading on a particular topic. The advantage of doing this is that, in going on to locate and read the suggested resources, you will have checked that they exist and that the content is relevant and accurately set out in your essay.

Instead of researching the topic as a whole, you could use ChatGPT to generate suggestions for the occasional snippet of information, like this:

Before deciding which of its suggestions – if any – to include, you should ask ChatGPT for the source of the fact or statistic so you can check it and provide the necessary citation.

Referencing

Even reading the word above has probably made you groan. As if writing the essay isn’t hard enough, you then have to not only list all the sources you used, but also make sure that you’ve formatted them in a particular style. Here’s where you can use ChatGPT. We have a separate post dealing specifically with this topic, but in brief, you can ask something like this:

Where information is missing, as in the example above, ChatGPT will likely fill in the gaps. In such cases, you’ll have to ensure that the information it fills in is correct.

Proofreading

After finishing the writing and referencing, you’d be well advised to proofread your work, but you’re not always the best person to do so – you’d be tired and would likely read only what you expect to see. At least as a first step, you can copy and paste your essay into ChatGPT and ask it something like this:

You’ve got the message that you can’t just ask ChatGPT to write your essay, right? But in some areas, ChatGPT can help you write your essay, providing, as with any tool, you use it carefully and are alert to the risks.

We should point out that universities and colleges have different attitudes toward using AI – including whether you need to cite its use in your reference list – so always check what’s acceptable.

After using ChatGPT to help with your work, you can always ask our experts to look over it to check your references and/or improve your grammar, spelling, and tone. We’re available 24/7, and you can even try our services for free .

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How to Use ChatGPT to Write Essays That Impress

Step 1: Use ChatGPT to Find and Refine Essay Topics

• Log into the service and type the following prompt into ChatGPT:

• As you can see, ChatGPT gave several good ideas for our essay. If you want to refine the idea further, you can ask the chatbot to cut out some parts of the idea and replace them. Or, you can ask for more context in certain parts. Example – “Expand more on topic number 5 and what it means.”

Step 2: Ask ChatGPT to Construct an Outline

• With the same chat open, type out “ Give me an essay outline for <selected topic>. Make sure to keep it structured as I’ll use it to write my essay .” In this case, I will use topic number 2 since it aligns with what I had in mind.

• As you can see above, we now have a structured outline for our essay. We can use this to write our essay or have ChatGPT do that job. Nonetheless, it’s a good starting point. As always, you can have the AI chatbot cut out parts of the outline or specifically add new ones depending on your requirement.

Step 3: Get ChatGPT to Cite Sources for Your Essay

Even though we have the idea and the outline, we will need to do our research for proof supporting our essay. Thankfully, ChatGPT can be of some help here. Since the chatbot is adept at moderate research, users can get a general idea of where to look for gathering information. Let’s begin doing that.

• Let’s begin asking ChatGPT for sources. With the same chat open, type in the following prompt:

• Now we have a list of 10 sources we can reference from. However, you can also see that ChatGPT mentions the year 2021 in some of them. Therefore, it’s best to use these websites but navigate to the latest pages pertaining to your essay for research. This applies to every topic, so always do it. Also, chatbots like ChatGPT have a habit of hallucinating and making up information, so do be careful.

Step 4: Have ChatGPT Write the Essay

• In the same chat, type the following prompt – “With the topic and outline available to you, generate a 700-word essay. Make sure to keep it structured and concise yet informational. Also, keep in mind my target audience is <Insert target audience> so cater to that accordingly.”
• In the middle of the essay, ChatGPT might stop and not answer. Simply type “ Continue ,” and it will finish the rest of the essay.

Step 5: Edit the Essay with ChatGPT

No matter if you have used ChatGPT to draft a complete essay or have written one yourself, you can use this step to make ChatGPT your co-editor and grammar checker. While your essay might need an initial look from a human, you can definitely use the bot to hash out the tone and add little details.

• Either open up the same chat or have your essay already in the clipboard. With that done, type out the following prompt:

Step 6: Export the Essay for Submission

However, for those who want to export the essay into a more aesthetic format, we have just the thing for you. There is no shortage of best ChatGPT Chrome extensions on the internet right now. We have one such selection linked in our list that can export selective chats onto beautiful image formats if you want to show off your essay. Check it out and let us know how you liked it.

Bonus: ChatGPT and AI Apps to Write Essays

1. writesonic.

Ryter is another helpful AI writing assistant that not only helps with essays but all types of articles. The service is powered by a language model that gives it intelligence. Rytr comes with 40+ different use cases and 20+ writing tones for all types of written material. For those who don’t want to stick to English, it even comes with support for 30+ languages.

Upanishad Sharma

Combining his love for Literature and Tech, Upanishad dived into the world of technology journalism with fire. Now he writes about anything and everything while keeping a keen eye on his first love of gaming. Often found chronically walking around the office.

Im student i want to become financially independent woman in life so I want esay essay write

I am housewife and I want easy essay I want to change my life my husband was job less and I want to work online part time job plz help I am enter pass

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Student Opinion

Should Students Let ChatGPT Help Them Write Their College Essays?

If so, how? Tell us what you are thinking, and what practical and ethical questions these new A.I. tools raise for you.

Natasha Singer

Hey, ChatGPT, can you help me write my college admissions essays?

Absolutely! Please provide me with the essay prompts and any relevant information about yourself, your experiences, and your goals.

By Katherine Schulten

Teachers: We also have a lesson plan that accompanies this Student Opinion forum.

Are you working on a college application essay? Have you sought help from an adult? How about from an A.I. chatbot like ChatGPT or Bard? Were either useful? If so, how?

The New York Times recently published two articles about the questions these new tools are raising for the college process. One explores how A.I. chatbots are upending essay-writing. The other details what happened when a reporter fed application questions from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth to different bots.

Here’s how the first article, “ Ban or Embrace? Colleges Wrestle With A.I.-Generated Admissions Essays ,” explains what’s going on:

The personal essay has long been a staple of the application process at elite colleges, not to mention a bane for generations of high school students. Admissions officers have often employed applicants’ essays as a lens into their unique character, pluck, potential and ability to handle adversity. As a result, some former students say they felt tremendous pressure to develop, or at least concoct, a singular personal writing voice. But new A.I. tools threaten to recast the college application essay as a kind of generic cake mix, which high school students may simply lard or spice up to reflect their own tastes, interests and experiences — casting doubt on the legitimacy of applicants’ writing samples as authentic, individualized admissions yardsticks.

The piece continues:

Some teachers said they were troubled by the idea of students using A.I. tools to produce college essay themes and texts for deeper reasons: Outsourcing writing to bots could hinder students from developing important critical thinking and storytelling skills. “Part of the process of the college essay is finding your writing voice through all of that drafting and revising,” said Susan Barber, an Advanced Placement English literature teacher at Midtown High School, a public school in Atlanta. “And I think that’s something that ChatGPT would be robbing them of.” In August, Ms. Barber assigned her 12th-grade students to write college essays. This week, she held class discussions about ChatGPT, cautioning students that using A.I. chatbots to generate ideas or writing could make their college essays sound too generic. She advised them to focus more on their personal views and voices. Other educators said they hoped the A.I. tools might have a democratizing effect. Wealthier high school students, these experts noted, often have access to resources — alumni parents, family friends, paid writing coaches — to help them brainstorm, draft and edit their college admissions essays. ChatGPT could play a similar role for students who lack such resources, they said, especially those at large high schools where overworked college counselors have little time for individualized essay coaching.

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Write an Essay From Scratch With Chat GPT: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Santiago mallea.

• Best Apps And Tools , Writing Tips

Chief of Content At Gradehacker

• Updated on June, 2024

How can I use ChatGPT to write an essay from scratch?

To write an essay with Chat GPT, you need to:

• Understand your prompt
• Choose a topic
• Write the entire prompt in Chat GPT
• Break down the arguments you got
• Write one prompt at a time
• Check the sources
• Create your first draft
• Edit your draft

Want an actual human help you write?

If you are looking for a more personalized approach, get in touch with our team and get a quality AI-free essay

How amazing would it be if there was a robot willing to help you write a college essay from scratch?

A few years ago, that may have sounded like something so futuristic that could only be seen in movies. But actually, we are closer than you might think so.

Artificial Intelligence tools are everywhere , and college students have noticed it. Among all, there is one revolutionary AI that learns over time and writes all types of content, from typical conversations to academic texts.

But can Chat GPT write essays from scratch?

We tried it, and the answer is kind so (for now at least.)

Here at Gradehacker, we have years of being the non-traditional adult students’ #1 resource.

We have lots of experience helping people like you write their essays on time or get their college degree sooner , and we know how important it is to be updated with the latest tools.

AIs and Chat GPT are going to stay for a while , so you better learn how to use them properly. If you ever wondered whether it was possible to write an essay from scratch with Chat GPT, you are about to find out!

Now, in case you aren’t familiarized with Chat GPT or don’t know the basics of how it works, we recommend watching our video first!

How we Used ChatGPT to Write Essays

So, to try our experiment with ChatGPT, we created two different college assignments that any student could find:

• An argumentative essay about America's healthcare system
• A book review of George Orwell's 1984

Our main goal is to test ChatGPT’s essay-writing skills and see how much students can use it to write their academic assignments.

Now, we are pretty aware that this (or any) artificial intelligence can carry a wide range of problems such as:

• Giving you incorrect premises and information
• Delivering a piece of writing that is plagiarised from somewhere else
• Does not include citations or list the sources it used
• Is not always available to use

That’s why after receiving our first rough draft, we’ll edit the parts of the text that are necessary and run what we get through our plagiarism checker. After our revision, we’ll ask the AI to expand on the information or make the changes we need.

We’ll consider that final version after our revision as the best possible work that ChatGPT could have done to write an essay from scratch.

And to cover the lack of citations, we’ll see what academic sources the chatbot considers worthy for us to use when writing our paper.

Now, we don’t think that AIs are ready to deliver fully edited and well-written academic writing assignments that you can simply submit to your professor without reading them first.

But is it possible to speed up the writing process and save time by asking Chat GPT to write essays?

Let’s see!

Can ChatGPT Write an Argumentative Paper?

First, we’ll see how it can handle one of the most common academic essays: an argumentative paper.

We chose the American healthcare system as our topic, but as we know that we to find a specific subject with a wide range of sources to write a strong and persuasive essay, we are focusing on structural racism in our healthcare system and how African Americans accessed it during covid.

It’s a clear and specific topic that we included in our list of best topics for your research paper. If you want similar alternatives for college papers, be sure to watch our video !

Instructions and Essay Prompt

Take a position on an issue and compose a 5-page paper that supports it.

In the introduction, establish why your topic is important and present a specific, argumentative thesis statement that previews your argument.

The body of your essay should be logical, coherent, and purposeful. It should synthesize your research and your own informed opinions in order to support your thesis.

Address other positions on the topic along with arguments and evidence that support those positions. 

Write a conclusion that restates your thesis and reminds your reader of your main points.

First Results

After giving ChatGPT this prompt, this is what we received:

To begin with, after copying and pasting these paragraphs into a word document, it only covered two and a half pages.

While the introduction directly tackles the main topic, it fails to provide a clear thesis statement. And even if it’s included in a separate section, the thesis is broad and lacks factual evidence or statistics to support it.

Throughout the body of the text, the AI lists many real-life issues that contribute to the topic of the paper. Still, these are never fully explained nor supported with evidence.

For example, in the first paragraph, it says that “African Americans have long experienced poorer health outcomes compared to other racial groups.” Here it would be interesting to add statistics that prove this information is correct.

Something that really stood up for us, was that ChatGPT credited a source to back up important data, even though it didn’t cite it properly. It talks about a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation that supports that in 2019, 11% of African Americans and 6% of non-Hispanic Whites were uninsured. 

We checked the original article and found that the information was almost 100% accurate . The correct rates were 8% for White Americans and 10.9% for African Americans, but the biggest issue was that the study included more updated statistics from 2021.

Then, when addressing other issues like transportation and discrimination, the problem is presented without any problems, but once again, there are no sources that support them .

Once the essay starts developing the thesis statement on how these issues could be fixed, we can see the same problem.

But even if they lack supporting evidence , the arguments listed are cohesive and make sense . These were:

• Expanding Medicaid coverage
• Provide incentives for healthcare providers to practice in underserved areas
• Invest in telehealth services
• Improve transportation infrastructure, particularly in rural areas
• Train healthcare providers on cultural competence and anti-racism
• Increase diversity in the healthcare workforce
• Implement patient-centered care models

These are all strong ideas that could be stronger and more persuasive with specific information and statistics.

Still, the main problem is that there is no counter-argument that is against the essay’s main arguments.

Overall, ChatGPT delivered a cohesive first draft that tackled the topic by explaining its multiple issues and listing possible solutions. However, there is a clear lack of evidence, no counter-arguments were included, and the essay we got was half the length we needed.

Changes and Final Results

In our second attempt, we asked the AI to expand on each section and subtopic of the essay . While the final result ended up repeating some parts on multiple occasions, ChatGPT wrote more extensively and even included in-text citations with their corresponding reference.

By pasting all these new texts (without editing) into a new document, we get more than seven pages, which is a great starting point for writing a better essay.

Explanation of the issues and use of sources

The new introduction stayed pretty much the same, but the difference is that now the thesis statement is stronger and even had a cited statistic to back it up . Unfortunately, while the information is correct, the source isn’t.

Clicking on the link included in the references took us to a non-existing page , and after looking for that data on Google, we found that it actually belonged to a study from the National Library of Medicine.

But then, the AI did a solid job expanding on the issues that were related to the paper’s topic. But again, while some sources were useful, sometimes the information reflected in the text didn’t correspond to it.

For example, when citing an article posted in KFF to evidence the importance of transportation as a critical factor in health disparities, when we go to the site, we don’t find any mention of that issue.

Similarly, when addressing the higher rates of infection and death compared to White Americans, the AI once again cited the wrong source. The statistics came from a study conducted by the CDC , but from a different article than the one that is credited.

And sometimes, the information displayed was incorrect.

In that same section, when listing the percentages of death in specific states, we see in the cited source that the statistics don’t match.

However, what’s interesting is that if we search for that data on Google, we find a different study that backs it up. So, even if Chat GPT didn’t include inaccurate information in the text, it failed to properly acknowledge the real source.

And so did this problem of having correct information but citing the wrong source continued throughout the paper.

Solutions and counter-arguments

When we asked the AI to write more about the solutions it mentioned in the first draft, we received more extensive arguments with supporting evidence for each case.

As we were expecting , the statistics were real, but the source credited wasn’t the original and didn’t mention anything related to what was included in the text. 

And it wasn’t any different with the counterarguments. They made sense and had a strong point, but the sources credited weren’t correct. 

For instance, regarding telehealth services, it recognized the multiple barriers it would take for low-income areas to adopt this modality. It credited an article posted in the KKF mainly written by “Gillespie,” but after searching for the information, we see that the original study was conducted by other people.

Still, the fact that Chat GPT now provided us with multiple data and information we could use to develop counter-arguments and later refute them is excellent progress. 

The good news is that none of the multiple paragraphs that Chat GPT delivered had plagiarism issues.

After running them through our plagiarism checker, it only found a few parts that had duplicated content, but these were sentences composed of commonly used phrases that other articles about different topics also had.

For example, multiple times it recognized as plagiarism phrases like “according to the CDC” or “according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.” And even these “ plagiarism issues ” could be easily solved by rearranging the order or adding new words.

Checking for plagiarism is a critical part of the essay writing process. If you are not using one yet, be sure to pick one as soon as possible. We recommend checking our list of best plagiarism checkers.

Key Takeaways

So, what did we learn by asking Chat GPT to write an argumentative paper?

• It's better if the AI writes section per section
• It can give you accurate information related to issues, solutions, and counterarguments
• There is a high chance the source credited won't be the right one
• The texts, which can have duplicated content among themselves, don't appear to be plagiarized

It’s clear that we still need to do a lot of editing and writing.

However, considering that Chat GPT wrote this in less than an hour , the AI proved to be a solid tool. It gave us many strong arguments, interesting and accurate statistics, and an order that we cal follow to structure our argumentative paper.

If writing these types of assignments isn’t your strength, be sure to watch our tutorial on how to write an exceptional argumentative essay!

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Can Chat GPT Write a Book Review?

For our second experiment, we want to see if Chat GPT can write an essay for a literature class.

To do so, we picked one of the novels we consider one of the 5 must-read books any college student should read: 1984 by George Orwell. There is so much written and discussed about this literary classic that we thought it would be a perfect choice for an artificial intelligence chatbot like Chat GPT to write something about.

Write a book review of the book 1984 by George Orwell. The paper needs to include an introduction with the author’s title, publication information (Publisher, year, number of pages), genre, and a brief introduction to the review.

Then, write a summary of the plot with the basic parts of the plot: situation, conflict, development, climax, and resolution.

Continue by describing the setting and the point of view and discussing the book’s literary devices.

Lastly, analyze the book, and explain the particular style of writing or literary elements used.

And then write a conclusion.

This is the first draft we got:

Starting with the introduction, all the information is correct , while including the number of pages is worthless as it depends on the edition of the book.

The summary is also accurate, but it relies too heavily on the plot instead of the context and world described in the novel , which is arguably the reason 1984 transcended time. For example, there is no mention of Big Brother, the leader of the totalitarian superstate.

Now, the setting and point of view section is the poorest section written by Chat GPT . It is very short and lacks development.

The literary devices are not necessarily wrong, but it would be better to focus more on each . For instance, talk more about the importance of symbolism or explain how the book critiques propaganda, totalitarianism, and individual freedom.

The analysis of Orwell’s writing is simple , but the conclusion is clear and straightforward, so it might be the best piece that the AI wrote.

For the second draft, instead of submitting the entire prompt, we wrote one command per section . As a result, Chat GPT focused on each part of the review and tossed more paragraphs with more detailed information in every case.

It’s clear that this way, the AI can write better and more developed texts that are easier to edit and improve . Each section analyzes more in-depth the topic it’s reviewing, which facilitates the upcoming process of structuring the most useful paragraphs into a cohesive essay.

For example, it now added more literary devices used by Orwell and gave specific examples of the symbolism of the novel.

Of course, there are many sentences and ideas that are repeated throughout the different sections. But now, because each has more specific information, we can take these parts and structure a new paragraph that comprises the most valuable sentences.

Now, even if sometimes book reviews don’t need to include citations from external sources apart from the novel we are analyzing, Chat GPT gave us five different options for us to choose from.

The only problem was that we couldn’t find any of them on Google.

The names of the authors were real people, but the titles of the articles and essays were nowhere to be found. This made us think that it’s likely that the AI picked real-life writers and created a title for a fictional essay about 1984 or George Orwell .

Finally, we need to see if the texts are original or plagiarized material.

After running it through our plagiarism detection software, we found that it was mostly original content with only a few issues on sight . But nothing too big to worry about.

One easy-to-solve example is in the literary devices section, where it directly quotes a sentence from the book. In this case, we would just need to add the in-text citation.

The biggest plagiarism problem was with one sentence (or six words, to be more specific) from the conclusion that linked to the introduction from a summary review . But by rearranging the word order or adding synonyms, this issue can be easily solved too.

So, what are the most important tips we can take from Chat GPT writing a book review?

• It will review each section more in-depth if you ask it one prompt at a time
• The analysis and summary of the book were accurate
• If you ask it to list scholarly sources, the AI will create unexisting sources based on real authors
• Very few plagiarism issues

Once again, there is still a lot of work to do.

The writing sample chat GPT gave us is a solid start, but we need to rearrange all the paragraphs into one cohesive essay that perfectly summarizes the different aspects of the novel. Plus, we would also have to find scholarly sources on our own.

Still, the AI can do the heavy lifting and give you a great starting point.

If writing book reviews isn’t your strong suit, you have our tutorial and tips!

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Save Time And Use Chat GPT to Write Your Essay

We know that writing essays can be a tedious task.

Sometimes, kicking off the process can be harder than what it looks. That’s why understanding how to use a powerful tool like Chat GPT can truly make the difference.

It may not have the critical thinking skills you have or write a high-quality essay from scratch, but by using our tips, it can deliver you a solid first draft to start writing your entire essay.

But if you want to have an expert team of writers giving you personalized support or aren’t sure about editing an AI-written essay, you can trust Gradehacker to help you with your assignments.

You can also check out our related blog posts if you want to learn how to take your writing skills to the next level!

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Santiago Mallea is a curious and creative journalist who first helped many college students as a Gradehacker consultant in subjects like literature, communications, ethics, and business. Now, as a Content Creator in our blog, YouTube channel, and TikTok, he assists non-traditional students improve their college experience by sharing the best tips. You can find him on LinkedIn .

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Can You Use ChatGPT for Your College Essay?

College Admissions , College Essays

ChatGPT has become a popular topic of conversation since its official launch in November 2022. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot can be used for all sorts of things, like having conversations, answering questions, and even crafting complete pieces of writing.

If you’re applying for college, you might be wondering about ChatGPT college admissions’ potential.  Should you use a ChatGPT college essay in your application ?

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll know much more about ChatGPT, including how students can use it responsibly and if it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT on college essays . We’ll answer all your questions, like:

• What is ChatGPT and why are schools talking about it?
• What are the good and bad aspects of ChatGPT?
• Should you use ChatGPT for college essays and applications?
• Can colleges detect ChatGPT?
• Are there other tools and strategies that students can use, instead?

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Schools and colleges are worried about how new AI technology affects how students learn. (Don't worry. Robots aren't replacing your teachers...yet.)

What Is ChatGPT and Why Are Schools Talking About It?

ChatGPT (short for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) is a chatbot created by OpenAI , an artificial intelligence research company. ChatGPT can be used for various tasks, like having human-like conversations, answering questions, giving recommendations, translating words and phrases—and writing things like essays. 

In order to do this, ChatGPT uses a neural network that’s been trained on thousands of resources to predict relationships between words. When you give ChatGPT a task, it uses that knowledge base to interpret your input or query. It then analyzes its data banks to predict the combinations of words that will best answer your question. 

So while ChatGPT might seem like it’s thinking, it’s actually pulling information from hundreds of thousands of resources , then answering your questions by looking for patterns in that data and predicting which words come next.  

Why Schools Are Concerned About ChatGPT

Unsurprisingly, schools are worried about ChatGPT and its misuse, especially in terms of academic dishonesty and plagiarism . Most schools, including colleges, require students’ work to be 100% their own. That’s because taking someone else’s ideas and passing them off as your own is stealing someone else’s intellectual property and misrepresenting your skills. 

The problem with ChatGPT from schools’ perspective is that it does the writing and research for you, then gives you the final product. In other words, you’re not doing the work it takes to complete an assignment when you’re using ChatGPT , which falls under schools’ plagiarism and dishonesty policies.  

Colleges are also concerned with how ChatGPT will negatively affect students’ critical thinking, research, and writing skills . Essays and other writing assignments are used to measure students’ mastery of the material, and if students submit ChatGPT college essays, teachers will just be giving feedback on an AI’s writing…which doesn’t help the student learn and grow. 

Beyond that, knowing how to write well is an important skill people need to be successful throughout life. Schools believe that if students rely on ChatGPT to write their essays, they’re doing more than just plagiarizing—they’re impacting their ability to succeed in their future careers. 

Many Schools Have Already Banned ChatGPT

Schools have responded surprisingly quickly to AI use, including ChatGPT. Worries about academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and mis/disinformation have led many high schools and colleges to ban the use of ChatGPT . Some schools have begun using AI-detection software for assignment submissions, and some have gone so far as to block students from using ChatGPT on their internet networks. 

It’s likely that schools will begin revising their academic honesty and plagiarism policies to address the use of AI tools like ChatGPT. You’ll want to stay up-to-date with your schools’ policies. 

ChatGPT is pretty amazing...but it's not a great tool for writing college essays. Here's why.

ChatGPT: College Admissions and Entrance Essays

College admissions essays—also called personal statements—ask students to explore important events, experiences, and ideas from their lives. A great entrance essay will explain what makes you you !  

ChatGPT is a machine that doesn’t know and can’t understand your experiences. That means using ChatGPT to write your admissions essays isn’t just unethical. It actually puts you at a disadvantage because ChatGPT can’t adequately showcase what it means to be you. 

Let’s take a look at four ways ChatGPT negatively impacts college admissions essays.

#1: ChatGPT Lacks Insight

We recommend students use u nexpected or slightly unusual topics because they help admissions committees learn more about you and what makes you unique. The chat bot doesn’t know any of that, so nothing ChatGPT writes can’t accurately reflect your experience, passions, or goals for the future. 

Because ChatGPT will make guesses about who you are, it won’t be able to share what makes you unique in a way that resonates with readers. And since that’s what admissions counselors care about, a ChatGPT college essay could negatively impact an otherwise strong application.  

#2: ChatGPT Might Plagiarize 

Writing about experiences that many other people have had isn’t a very strong approach to take for entrance essays . After all, you don’t want to blend in—you want to stand out! 

If you write your essay yourself and include key details about your past experiences and future goals, there’s little risk that you’ll write the same essay as someone else. But if you use ChatGPT—who’s to say someone else won’t, too? Since ChatGPT uses predictive guesses to write essays, there’s a good chance the text it uses in your essay already appeared in someone else’s.  

Additionally, ChatGPT learns from every single interaction it has. So even if your essay isn’t plagiarized, it’s now in the system. That means the next person who uses ChatGPT to write their essay may end up with yours. You’ll still be on the hook for submitting a ChatGPT college essay, and someone else will be in trouble, too.

#3: ChatGPT Doesn’t Understand Emotion 

Keep in mind that ChatGPT can’t experience or imitate emotions, and so its writing samples lack, well, a human touch ! 

A great entrance essay will explore experiences or topics you’re genuinely excited about or proud of . This is your chance to show your chosen schools what you’ve accomplished and how you’ll continue growing and learning, and an essay without emotion would be odd considering that these should be real, lived experiences and passions you have!

#4: ChatGPT Produced Mediocre Results

If you’re still curious what would happen if you submitted a ChatGPT college essay with your application, you’re in luck. Both Business Insider and Forbes asked ChatGPT to write a couple of college entrance essays, and then they sent them to college admissions readers to get their thoughts. 

The readers agreed that the essays would probably pass as being written by real students—assuming admissions committees didn’t use AI detection software—but that they both were about what a “very mediocre, perhaps even a middle school, student would produce.” The admissions professionals agreed that the essays probably wouldn’t perform very well with entrance committees, especially at more selective schools.  

That’s not exactly the reaction you want when an admission committee reads your application materials! So, when it comes to ChatGPT college admissions, it’s best to steer clear and write your admission materials by yourself. 

Can Colleges Detect ChatGPT?

We’ve already explained why it’s not a great idea to use ChatGPT to write your college essays and applications , but you may still be wondering: can colleges detect ChatGPT? 

In short, yes, they can! 

Software Can Detect ChatGPT

As technology improves and increases the risk of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and mis/disinformation, software that can detect such technology is improving, too. For instance, OpenAI, the same company that built ChatGPT, is working on a text classifier that can tell the difference between AI-written text and human-written text .  

Turnitin, one of the most popular plagiarism detectors used by high schools and universities, also recently developed the AI Innovation Lab —a detection software designed to flag submissions that have used AI tools like ChatGPT. Turnitin says that this tool works with 98% confidence in detecting AI writing. 

Plagiarism and AI companies aren’t the only ones interested in AI-detection software. A 22-year old computer science student at Princeton created an app to detect ChatGPT writing, called Zero GPT. This software works by measuring the complexity of ideas and variety of sentence structures.  

Human Readers Can Detect ChatGPT 

It’s also worth keeping in mind that teachers can spot the use of ChatGPT themselves , even if it isn’t confirmed by a software detector. For example, if you’ve turned in one or two essays to your teacher already, they’re probably familiar with your unique writing style. If you submit a college essay draft essay that uses totally different vocabulary, sentence structures, and figures of speech, your teacher will likely take note.

Additionally , admissions committees and readers may be able to spot ChatGPT writing, too. ChatGPT (and AI writing, in general) uses more simplistic sentence structures with less variation, so that could make it easier to tell if you’ve submitted a ChatGPT college essay. These professionals also read thousands of essays every year, which means they know what a typical essay reads like. You want your college essay to catch their attention…but not because you used AI software! 

If you use ChatGPT responsibly, you can be as happy as these kids.

Pros and Cons of ChatGPT: College Admissions Edition

ChatGPT is a brand new technology, which means we’re still learning about the ways it can benefit us. It’s important to think about the pros and the cons to any new tool …and that includes artificial intelligence!

Let’s look at some of the good—and not-so-good—aspects of ChatGPT below. 

ChatGPT: The Good

It may seem like we’re focused on just the negatives of using ChatGPT in this article, but we’re willing to admit that the chatbot isn’t all bad. In fact, it can be a very useful tool for learning if used responsibly !

Like we already mentioned, students shouldn’t use ChatGPT to write entire essays or assignments. They can use it, though, as a learning tool alongside their own critical thinking and writing skills.

Students can use ChatGPT responsibly to:

• Learn more about a topic . It’s a great place to get started for general knowledge and ideas about most subjects.
• Find reputable and relevant sources on a topic. Students can ask ChatGPT for names and information about leading scholars, relevant websites and databases, and more. 
• Brainstorm ideas for assignments. Students can share the ideas they already have with ChatGPT, and in return, the chatbot can suggest ideas for further exploration and even organization of their points.
• Check work (that they’ve written themselves!) for errors or cla rity. This is similar to how spell- and grammar-checking software is used. ChatGPT may be even better than some competitors for this, because students can actually ask ChatGPT to explain the errors and their solutions—not just to fix them. 

Before you use ChatGPT—even for the tasks mentioned above—you should talk to your teacher or school about their AI and academic dishonesty policies. It’s also a good idea to include an acknowledgement that you used ChatGPT with an explanation of its use. 

This guy made some bad decisions using ChatGPT. Don't be this guy.

ChatGPT: The Bad

The first model of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5) was formally introduced to the public in November 2022, and the newer model (GPT-4) in March 2023. So, it’s still very new and there’s a lot of room for improvement .  

There are many misconceptions about ChatGPT. One of the most extreme is that the AI is all-knowing and can make its own decisions. Another is that ChatGPT is a search engine that, when asked a question, can just surf the web for timely, relevant resources and give you all of that information. Both of these beliefs are incorrect because ChatGPT is limited to the information it’s been given by OpenAI . 

Remember how the ‘PT’ in ChatGPT stands for “Pre-trained”? That means that every time OpenAI gives ChatGPT an update, it’s given more information to work with (and so it has more information to share with you). In other words, it’s “trained” on information so it can give you the most accurate and relevant responses possible—but that information can be limited and biased . Ultimately, humans at OpenAI decide what pieces of information to share with ChatGPT, so it’s only as accurate and reliable as the sources it has access to.

For example, if you were to ask ChatGPT-3.5 what notable headlines made the news last week, it would respond that it doesn’t have access to that information because its most recent update was in September 2021!

You’re probably already familiar with how easy it can be to come across misinformation, misleading and untrue information on the internet. Since ChatGPT can’t tell the difference between what is true and what isn’t, it’s up to the humans at OpenAI to make sure only accurate and true information is given to the chatbot . This leaves room for human error , and users of ChatGPT have to keep that in mind when using and learning from the chatbot.

These are just the most obvious problems with ChatGPT. Some other problems with the chatbot include:

• A lack of common sense. ChatGPT can create seemingly sensical responses to many questions and topics, but it doesn’t have common sense or complete background knowledge.
• A lack of empathy. ChatGPT doesn’t have emotions, so it can’t understand them, either. 
• An inability to make decisions or problem solve . While the chatbot can complete basic tasks like answering questions or giving recommendations, it can’t solve complex tasks. 

While there are some great uses for ChatGPT, it’s certainly not without its flaws.

Our bootcamp can help you put together amazing college essays that help you get into your dream schools—no AI necessary.

What Other Tools and Strategies Can Help Students Besides ChatGPT?

While it’s not a good idea to use ChatGPT for college admissions materials, it’s not the only tool available to help students with college essays and assignments.

One of the best strategies students can use to write good essays is to make sure they give themselves plenty of time for the assignment. The writing process includes much more than just drafting! Having time to brainstorm ideas, write out a draft, revise it for clarity and completeness, and polish it makes for a much stronger essay. 

Teachers are another great resource students can use, especially for college application essays. Asking a teacher (or two!) for feedback can really help students improve the focus, clarity, and correctness of an essay. It’s also a more interactive way to learn—being able to sit down with a teacher to talk about their feedback can be much more engaging than using other tools.

Using expert resources during the essay writing process can make a big difference, too. Our article outlines a complete list of strategies for students writing college admission essays. It breaks down what the Common Application essay is, gives tips for choosing the best essay topic, offers strategies for staying focused and being specific, and more.

You can also get help from people who know the college admissions process best, like former admissions counselors. PrepScholar’s Admissions Bootcamp guides you through the entire application process , and you’ll get insider tips and tricks from real-life admissions counselors that’ll make your applications stand out. Even better, our bootcamp includes step-by-step essay writing guidance, so you can get the help you need to make sure your essay is perfect.

If you’re hoping for more technological help, Grammarly is another AI tool that can check writing for correctness. It can correct things like misused and misspelled words and grammar mistakes, and it can improve your tone and style. 

It’s also widely available across multiple platforms through a Windows desktop app, an Android and iOS app, and a Google Chrome extension. And since Grammarly just checks your writing without doing any of the work for you, it’s totally safe to use on your college essays. 

The Bottom Line: ChatGPT College Admissions and Essays

ChatGPT will continue to be a popular discussion topic as it continues evolving. You can expect your chosen schools to address ChatGPT and other AI tools in their academic honesty and plagiarism policies in the near future—and maybe even to restrict or ban the use of the chatbot for school admissions and assignments.

As AI continues transforming, so will AI-detection. The goal is to make sure that AI is used responsibly by students so that they’re avoiding plagiarism and building their research, writing, and critical thinking skills. There are some great uses for ChatGPT when used responsibly, but you should always check with your teachers and schools beforehand.

ChatGPT’s “bad” aspects still need improving, and that’s going to take some time.Be aware that the chatbot isn’t even close to perfect, and it needs to be fact-checked just like other sources of information.

Similarly to other school assignments, don’t submit a ChatGPT college essay for college applications, either. College entrance essays should outline unique and interesting personal experiences and ideas, and those can only come from you.  

Just because ChatGPT isn’t a good idea doesn’t mean there aren’t resources to help you put together a great college essay. There are many other tools and strategies you can use instead of ChatGPT , many of which have been around for longer and offer better feedback. 

What’s Next?

Ready to write your college essays the old-fashioned way? Start here with our comprehensive guide to the admissions essays.  

Most students have to submit essays as part of their Common Application . Here's a complete breakdown of the Common App prompts —and how to answer them.

The most common type of essay answers the "why this college?" prompt. We've got an expert breakdown that shows you how to write a killer response , step by step. 

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing

Did you know that ChatGPT is a powerful tool for academic writing? While it can be a valuable resource, let’s make one thing clear: we’re not talking about using the chatbot to complete assignments for you. Instead, you can use AI at various stages of the writing process, from brainstorming ideas to refining and editing your work.

You’ll find effective ChatGPT prompts for research papers, proposals, case studies, and more in this article.

• 🔝 10 Most Useful Prompts
• 🔎 Prompts for Research Paper
• 📝 Prompts for Proposal
• 📊 Prompts for Case Study
• 🔬 Prompts for Scientific Writing
• ✍️ Prompts for Report Writing
• 🤖 How to Write ChatGPT Prompts

🔗 References

🔝 10 most useful chatgpt prompts for academic writing.

Effective prompts can help you release the full potential of ChatGPT for academic writing. Here are some prompts that will help you handle the most frequent academic tasks, like choosing a topic or summarizing texts:

• Suggest 10 research topics in the field of [subject].
• Generate 10 academic research questions about [topic].
• Create an outline for a research paper about [topic].
• Provide examples of thesis statements on [topic].
• Summarize this article’s main points: [text of the article].
• Simplify this text to make it easier to understand: [text].
• Rewrite this paragraph in academic language: [paragraph].
• Correct grammar and spelling mistakes in this paragraph: [text].
• Provide 5 arguments for/against the following claim: [claim].
• Improve the coherence and clarity of my paper: [text].

🔎 ChatGPT Prompts for Research Paper Writing

A research paper is a common type of academic writing that involves gathering information on the topic and presenting unique findings. No doubt, writing a research paper takes some time and effort. However, ChatGPT can become your helpful assistant.

Choosing a Research Topic & Question

The first step of writing a research paper is to choose a topic and formulate a research question. Making your topic original, manageable, clear, and impactful is important. Since there are a lot of aspects to consider, you can ask ChatGPT to generate the most suitable topic ideas or to provide feedback on the topics you brainstormed yourself.

Here are some prompt examples for research topics and questions:

If you don’t want to bother with ChatGPT prompts, try our free research question maker to create a compelling research question in a few clicks!

Finding Information & Sources

Instead of spending hours browsing the Internet or wandering around your school library, you can use ChatGPT to find information for your research . Ask the chatbot to recommend online sources dedicated to your research topic, and it will provide you with a list of relevant websites, journals, and databases. You can even ask ChatGPT to give you a list of specific references to use. However, note that sometimes ChatGPT suggests outdated or non-existent sources, so always double-check.

Have a look at these prompts that can help find literature for your research:

Organizing Ideas

If you need help organizing ideas for your research paper, ChatGPT is a great solution. You ask the chatbot to create an outline for an entire writing or to structure a separate part, such as an introduction or literature review. Moreover, you can use ChatGPT to generate transition phrases and sentences to ensure coherence and a smooth paper flow.

Do you want to know more prompts for organizing your ideas? Check out our examples!

Revising and Proofreading

After working many days on your research paper, you may lose freshness of vision. To get detailed feedback on your writing, you can ask ChatGPT to check it for mistakes and identify what can be improved. One useful tip is to specify what the chatbot should focus on, such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, or academic language.

Check out these proofreading prompt examples:

📝 ChatGPT Prompts for Proposal Writing

Proposal writing is common among researchers, business professionals, and students. This paper aims to persuade the target audience to approve or support the proposed project or research. Writing a persuasive proposal can be time-consuming, so why not use ChatGPT as a help?

Brainstorming Innovative Project Ideas

ChatGPT can help you overcome writer’s block and suggest topics for your proposal writing. For example, you can identify a problem and ask the chatbot to come up with several solutions. Moreover, you can use AI to identify a research gap in the scientific literature on the topic of your interest.

Here are more prompts for brainstorming proposal ideas:

Structuring Your Proposal

Every successful proposal starts with an effective plan. If you haven’t written a proposal before, you can use ChatGPT to write a detailed outline for an entire paper or organize specific parts, such as literature review, timing, or budget.

For more inspiration, consider these prompt ideas:

Strengthening Your Argument

Proposal writing aims to convince the target audience to support your project. If you need ideas on how to make your paper more persuasive, try out ChatGPT. For example, you may ask the bot to highlight the importance of your paper for society or science or write a passage that presents you as a trustworthy expert.

Check out some prompts for strengthening your proposal :

Meeting Proposal Guidelines

Sometimes, the requirements we get from our school or professor are unclear or simply overwhelming. To ensure you meet all the guidelines, you may share the requirements with ChatGPT and let the bot check the proposal for you.

Here are some prompts you can use:

📊 ChatGPT Prompts for Case Study Writing

Usually, students are asked to analyze case studies to demonstrate their theoretical knowledge and apply it in practice. However, some professors give students a task to create their own case studies to test their creativity and critical thinking. Whether you’re a teacher or a student, the following ChatGPT prompts will be helpful when writing a case study.

Identifying a Case Study Subject

Choosing a case study topic can be a daunting task. It usually requires the writer to read about current events, consult academic journals, or talk to experts. Luckily, ChatGPT can make the topic selection much easier and ensure your case study is engaging and relevant.

These are some prompts you can use when choosing a case study subject:

Gathering and Analyzing Data

The most time-consuming step when writing a case study is gathering data. You need to analyze databases, industry websites, and previous case studies. Moreover, you might conduct an interview to make your case study more insightful. If you want to optimize your time when gathering data for your paper, you should try ChatGPT.

Here are some helpful prompts for collecting and analyzing information:

Structuring and Writing

You might be surprised to learn how many opportunities ChatGPT offers when structuring your case study. For example, you can ask the bot to write a detailed outline. What is more, ChatGPT can suggest engaging hooks for your introduction and provide recommendations on presenting your data.

Check out some prompt examples:

Other Helpful Prompts

What else can ChatGPT do to help you write an outstanding case study? For example, you may ask the chatbot to provide case study examples on your topic for some inspiration. Moreover, you can ask the bot to list the most common case study writing mistakes you should avoid.

Here are some bonus prompts you should try:

We also recommend you use our free case study answer generator if you need help analyzing a case study.

🔬 ChatGPT Prompts for Scientific Writing

As you might already know, scientific writing is characterized by precision and clarity. All scientific articles follow a specific structure: abstract, introduction, literature review , methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. The following section will discuss how ChatGPT can assist you with each of these parts.

Prompts for Title, Abstract, & Keywords

The title, abstract, and keywords form a first impression of your article. ChatGPT can assist with these parts by generating engaging titles based on the research content and summarizing key points into a clear abstract. You may also ask the chatbot to suggest relevant keywords that will improve the online visibility of your article.

Creating a concise and accurate abstract for your research paper is even easier with our free AI abstract generator !

Prompts for Introduction

A scientific article’s introduction should include background information on the topic, research gap, your research question, hypothesis, methodology overview, and significance of the article. You can ask ChatGPT to create an introduction outline to avoid getting lost in all these elements.

For you, we prepared some effective prompts:

You can also use our free research introduction maker to write a compelling opening section for your paper!

ChatGPT Prompts for Literature Review

A literature review is a critical component that provides an overview of other studies on the topic. Writing a well-structured literature review may take a lot of time and effort, but ChatGPT can help make this process more productive. For example, the chatbot can list relevant literature, summarize long sources , and identify key themes.

Here are some prompt ideas:

We also suggest you try our free key points generator to save time reading through a vast amount of literature.

Prompts for Methodology

The methodology section explains how your research was carried out and lets readers decide if your approach is trustworthy. To save time while writing this section, you can use ChatGPT to find the most suitable research tools or generate descriptions of methods.

Try out these useful prompts:

Prompts for Results & Discussion

In the results section of a scientific article, you should clearly and concisely present your key findings. As for the discussion section, it should interpret your results and link them to current knowledge on the topic. ChatGPT can help you analyze your data, suggest possible explanations of the results, and connect your findings to the existing literature.

Here are more prompt ideas for the results section:

ChatGPT Prompts for Conclusion

The main purpose of the conclusion in a scientific article is to present the implications of your research and highlight the significance of your paper. ChatGPT can be a great assistant in summarizing and paraphrasing the key findings and generating ideas on future research directions.

These are helpful prompts you can use for a conclusion:

You can also use our free conclusion generator to write an effective closing section for your article.

✍️ ChatGPT Prompts for Report Writing

The purpose of report writing is to present information on a particular topic. Reports allow students to demonstrate their understanding of a subject and their analytical skills. If you need help writing a report, try the following ChatGPT prompts.

Writing Executive Summary

Usually, report writing starts with an executive summary , which provides an overview of the main findings of a report. You may ask the bot to generate an engaging opening sentence or summarize your key points.

Here are more prompts you can use for an executive summary:

Designing Surveys and Interviews

When writing a report, you might need to collect some primary data. It is the type of information you gather with the help of surveys, questionnaires, or interviews. You may ask ChatGPT to generate a questionnaire on a particular topic or a set of questions for an interview.

Check out these prompts for designing interviews and surveys:

Creating Visual Aids

You should consider adding some visuals to make your report more engaging and easier to understand. Unfortunately, the free version of ChatGPT can only generate tables for you, while ChatGPT Plus can also create schemes and graphs. However, you can still ask the free bot for recommendations, such as what pictures to choose or colors to use for your infographics.

Check out some prompt ideas:

Generating Recommendations

Recommendations are practical steps or suggestions presented in the conclusion. ChatGPT can help ensure your recommendations are innovative, actionable, and realistic. You may simply ask the chatbot to generate recommendations based on your findings or provide feedback on your ideas.

These are the prompts you should try for the recommendations part:

Tailoring Language and Tone

To maximize the impact of your report, you should adjust the language and tone of your paper to the audience. Always remember your readers’ level of expertise and readiness to support your ideas.

Here are some prompts that will help tailor the tone and language of your report:

🤖 How to Write ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing

The ChatGPT prompts we’ve explored can undoubtedly empower you to craft impactful academic papers. However, if you want even more tailored responses from the bot, you should learn how to make effective prompts yourself.

Be Specific

To get the best results using ChatGPT, clearly define the task, include only relevant details, and avoid ambiguity.

Compare these prompt examples:

❌ Bad prompt

✅ Good prompt

Ask ChatGPT to Act as If…

To make ChatGPT generate more relevant responses, you may start your prompts with “Act as if…” The bot can play the role of anyone whose perspective you want to consider: a professor, a psychotherapist, an experienced manager, a high school student, and so on. A small prompt example: “Act as if you’re a strict English teacher and say if my poetry analysis is detailed enough.”

Specify Your Output Format

Don’t forget to specify the format of the content you expect to receive from ChatGPT. The bot can generate summaries, stories, dialogues, ordered and unordered lists, tables, and even code. After describing your task, you may add to the prompt, “Present this in the form of…”

Use “Do” and “Don’t”

Don’t expect AI to read your mind. Instead, tell ChatGPT directly what you want and don’t want in your response. Here is how you can add dos and don’ts in your prompt: “Suggest 10 controversial essay topics. Include original and creative topics, but don’t include topics about abortion, euthanasia, gun control, and capital punishment.”

Use Examples

If you have an example of a sentence or a paragraph you want ChatGPT’s output to resemble, add it to your prompt. This is a simple solution to improving the quality of the results. For instance, you can structure your prompt as follows: “Generate an introduction for an essay about climate change. Use this introduction as an example [introduction example].”

Consider the Tone and Audience

Let ChatGPT know about your audience and the tone you’d like to set. For example, a prompt “I plan to deliver an oral presentation on [topic]. Give me ideas for a speech that is [tone] and is appropriate for [the audience]” is way more effective than a simple “Give me speech topic ideas on [topic].”

Work Together with AI

Imagine that ChatGPT is your teammate, and you’re working on your academic writing together. To improve AI outputs, give your feedback, for example, on what you liked and what can be improved. Finally, remember that you can always ask the chatbot for advice on improving your prompts or even generating them for you.

One more tip: whenever you integrate the content produced by ChatGPT into your writing, don’t forget to check it for AI to ensure your paper keeps its human touch. Our free Chat GPT essay detector will help you with this!

In conclusion, unraveling the power of ChatGPT for academic writing can be a game-changer, but only if you use AI ethically and craft clear, effective prompts. If you like our ideas, check out other articles about using ChatGPT for educational purposes:

• How to Get ChatGPT to Write an Essay
• How to Use AI for Literature Review Writing
• ## Best AI Tools for Students
• How to Not Get Caught Using ChatGPT
• ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing | GitHub
• How to Write Persuasive Proposals With ChatGPT | Make Use Of
• Can ChatGPT Be Used as a Proofreader? | Make Use Of
• We Used ChatGPT to Generate Citations | Indiana Daily Student
• Should I Use ChatGPT to Write My Essays? | Harvard Summer School
• How to Make ChatGPT Provide Sources and Citations | ZDNET
• How to Use ChatGPT to Make Charts and Tables | ZDNET
• How to Use ChatGPT to Write a Literature Review with Prompts | Florida International University
• How to Write Better ChatGPT Prompts in 5 Steps | ZDNET
• Prompt Literacy in Academics | University of Michigan
• Getting Started with Prompts for Text-based Generative AI Tools | Harvard University
• ChatGPT in Academic Writing: Maximizing Its Benefits and Minimizing the Risks | Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
• 12 Best ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing Assistance in 2024 | Geeksforgeeks
• ChatGPT & AI Literacy Toolbox: Images, Writing, & Prompts | Florida International University
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ChatGPT essay writing: How to talk to students about AI and integrity

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ChatGPT essay writing is a hot topic, especially in the realm of teaching and learning where it can impact academic integrity. Should teachers incorporate ChatGPT and AI writing into their teaching curriculum? Or should AI writing be entirely banned and eschewed? The teacher response is incredibly bifurcated , with those who are using it or thinking of using it to facilitate early drafts. And then in the other camp, there are those who don’t want to use it at all and see any use of AI writing as a form of misconduct.

We are at the point of no return when it comes to AI writing. Companies are using it for blog writing and other purposes. Newspapers have long used AI writing. Consequently, AI writing may become a skill students need to enter the workplace. At the same time, AI writing misuse—when students use AI writing and represent it as their own original work—is a real concern within education.

To that end, we want to focus not on AI writing but on AI writing misuse, beginning with what ChatGPT is, what students understand about ChatGPT, discussing concerns around ChatGPT misuse, and how to then talk to students about AI writing and academic integrity.

OpenAI, an AI and research company, launched ChatGPT on November 30, 2022 and became the fastest growing consumer app in history , corralling 100 million active users within two months of availability. In comparison, TikTok took nine months to hit that number of users; Instagram, two and a half years ( Ortiz, 2023 ).

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool powered by AI that allows users to interact with a chatbot using human-like discussion. It can answer questions in human language and compose emails, essays, and code. ChatGPT runs on a language model architecture called the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (the “GPT” in ChatGPT). An interesting tidbit is that ChatGPT only has access to information up to 2021, compared to Google, which has access to the latest data.

It’s important not to make assumptions and instead know what it is your students understand about ChatGPT before opening a discussion about AI writing. Students are extremely aware of ChatGPT’s existence; and many have a very astute grasp of AI writing and its intersection with academic integrity.

The New York Times asked students to respond with their thoughts about ChatGPT , and student responses were insightful and very much a reflection of the discussions educators are also having. They, like educators, acknowledged ChatGPT as a powerful and sometimes inaccurate tool, expressing concerns about its impact on learning should students rely too much on AI writing. “One of my biggest worries is that I would rely too much on these tools and lose the capacity for critical and creative thought,” states one student. “I personally want to learn how to communicate myself clearly and to find my own distinctive voice as a student. If I always rely on ChatGPT to generate material for me, I might not be challenged to improve as a writer” ( Faris ).

Some students said that AI writing is flat-out a form of cheating. And some students embraced AI writing, stating, “If students are never taught about, and never learn how to operate ChatGPT in their schools, they will be unprepared for their life ahead, which will be filled with writing AIs” ( Whit, Byfield, MA ).

The above reflects the results of a survey of K-12 teachers and students aged 12-17 conducted by Impact Research for the Walton Family Foundation . The results from both groups were not dissimilar. For instance, the survey found that “Teachers and students agree ChatGPT will be important to incorporate into schooling. Two-thirds of students (65%) and three-quarters of teachers (76%) agree that integrating ChatGPT for schools will be important for the future” ( Impact Research, 2023 ).

Another survey by Intelligent also falls in line with The New York Times student insights, stating, “Three-quarters of students who have used ChatGPT for homework say it is ‘somewhat’ (46%) or ‘definitely’ (29%) cheating. These numbers increase when including students who say they are familiar with ChatGPT but haven’t used it themselves. With this group included, 80% say it is ‘somewhat’ (48%) or ‘definitely’ (32%) cheating.”

And yet, “When asked how popular they believe the use of the tool is among other students, 76% say its use is ‘somewhat’ (50%) or ‘very’ (26%) popular.” In other words, even though they believe AI writing use is a form of misconduct, students use it anyway ( Intelligent, 2023 ).

Bottom line? Students are ready to talk about ChatGPT, AI writing, and academic integrity. They have awareness of ChatGPT and their own preliminary thoughts; it’s up to educators to bring nuance and clarity about ChatGPT and academic integrity and define AI writing misuse.

As with all academic integrity concerns, it is important to make your students feel seen and supported in a conversation about AI writing and ChatGPT. Research has shown that students who feel connected to their teacher are less likely to cheat ( Orosz, Tóth-Király, Böthe, Kusztor, Kovács, & Jánvári 2015 ). Ergo, how a discussion about AI writing and ChatGPT use and misuse is executed is an opportunity to strengthen student-teacher relationships, deepen bonds to academic integrity, and sharpen understanding of AI writing and ChatGPT use. A few key points to keep in mind as you discuss ChatGPT essay writing with your students include:

• Center students
• Create a safe space
• Offer clarity and nuance
• Provide room for reflection

One of the most straightforward ways to begin discussing ChatGPT is to ask your students what they know or to have them write you a letter about what they know and what their concerns and questions may be. This letter, for the record, can even be anonymous to engender more honesty. Centering their established understanding of AI writing and addressing their questions is one effective way to begin a discussion about AI writing, ChatGPT, and academic integrity. Some students may still want an introduction to the concept, and of course, educators should share what they know, but by interviewing students first, engagement can increase.

The topic of AI writing and ChatGPT within education is so heated that students may feel it is entirely taboo or too risky to discuss. Create a safe space around an AI writing conversation by having students discuss questions and opinions about ChatGPT and AI writing within small groups before sharing within a larger classroom discussion (this way, it’s harder to pinpoint who said what). Another way to create a safe space might be to ask students to anonymously submit questions about AI writing and ChatGPT on slips of paper beforehand.

It is also safer to discuss a topic that is presented more objectively. Perhaps, too, have students respond to a third-party journalism article on AI writing so that any insights are a reaction to words written by someone they do not know.

Before discussion begins, provide ground rules or guidelines , whether you provide them or invite the class to form them. They can include rules about courtesy and respect and safety, such as critiquing ideas and not people, and allowing everyone a turn to speak. Having ground rules prior to discussion gives everyone an opportunity to refer back to them should things get tense.

Focusing on how to properly use AI writing generators is the crux of how to talk to students about AI writing, ChatGPT, and academic integrity. While it’s tempting to paint a black and white picture of AI writing use or ban it altogether, the reality is that AI writing and ChatGPT are a large presence that should be addressed head on and with nuance. The reality, too, is that students will be eventually faced with AI writing use; providing them with tools and knowledge to understand what constitutes misuse versus valid use of ChatGPT is critical to lifelong learning and academic integrity.

While a reliance on AI writing tools can impact critical thinking, talking about AI writing tools has incredible space for critical thinking and analysis. This is also an opportunity to check out resources on AI writing and academic integrity , including a guide to approaching AI-generated text . What is its impact on learning, both positive and negative? When AI writing is prevalent outside of academia—for instance, in journalism—what is the difference between use and misuse? How is it being used properly? How is it being used improperly? These questions and more can lead to a deeper understanding of how, when, where, and why to use or not use AI writing tools.

Reflection is an important part of learning. Consider having students write their reflections on the class discussion, whether anonymously or as a graded assignment, so that different types of learners have a chance to synthesize class discussion and demonstrate their knowledge. This is, coincidentally, an opportunity for educators to have insights on what exactly students felt were the key takeaways from a class discussion on AI writing. The assignment can focus on class discussion points (which coincidentally, makes it very difficult for ChatGPT misuse).

This summary reflection can also be an opportunity for students to express how they felt about the discussion or to share any questions that remain unanswered for them.

While a discussion with students about AI writing and integrity is not something that can be controlled to the minute, it is important to have discussion points. And those discussion points will center around concerns and benefits around ChatGPT use in education. The following are some talking points you may want to consider.

According to the National Education Association, “The biggest concern is cheating. More than one-fourth of teachers have caught students using the chatbot to cheat, the Study.com survey found. An influx of ChatGPT generated work has left many educators spending more time checking for AI plagiarism and revamping lesson plans to be ‘AI-proof’” ( Blose, 2023 ).

A discussion with students may involve asking them if they agree with this concern and what they feel “AI-proof” assignments might look like.

AI writing misconduct is muddied by how it is used in education versus industry. The most analogous example of this conflict is in software development and programming.

In software development, it is standard procedure for engineers to work in collaboration with others. It is also standard procedure to use the code of other engineers made available on Github or via open source software without attribution. On the other hand, when students in software engineering courses use others’ source code, it is called programming plagiarism and in the case of collaboration for an assignment that is meant for individual assessment, collusion.

In both cases, collaboration and using shared resources aren’t “bad things,” depending on the context, particularly in industry. AI writing, when not disclosed and when students represent it as their own, can often qualify as misconduct just as when software engineering students use an open repository like Github for answers to their individual assignments.

And unlike contract cheating , there are viable use cases for AI writing, such as when teachers incorporate it into their curriculum and students use it in a way that is transparent.

The difference between journalists using AI writing and students using AI writing, of course, is that students are still learning and need to demonstrate their understanding to instructors; AI writing in classrooms, when used as a shortcut solution without transparency, impacts learning and thus qualifies as misuse.

It is important to highlight that students engage in learning; any AI writing use should be disclosed. Bottom line: if students are using AI writing tools and claiming that work as their own individual, original work without attribution, that may be a case of misuse and misconduct.

In the early weeks and days following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, many schools throughout the world, from the United States to Australia to the UK banned ChatGPT use outright.

This is a discussion point that provides an opportunity to discuss nuances in AI writing use. And it’s a way to discuss AI writing in a way that isn’t as personal and instead, more academic. We now see that AI writing tool bans aren’t effective; both students and teachers have slowly come to accept ChatGPT as having useful potential. What might those positive uses be?

AI writing can help students with brainstorming and structure. It can help those who are learning a new language like English, overcome language barriers while absorbing new concepts, because AI writing tools can translate content for students. Discussing ways in which AI writing can harm or benefit learning gives students ownership in the discussion and helps them understand AI writing’s impact on learning more deeply.

But even when AI writing tools can be used, a reliance on ChatGPT can shortcut learning.

One way to emphasize the shortcomings of ChatGPT misuse is to ask it the same questions you ask your students within discussion and show how their discussion was more nuanced and detailed and comprehensive. Here, we asked ChatGPT about impacts on learning (yes, we used ChatGPT). This is ChatGPT’s response:

“ChatGPT, as a language model, can have several impacts on learning:

1. Information Access: ChatGPT has access to a vast amount of knowledge and information, making it a valuable tool for learning. It can provide quick and accurate answers to questions, helping users gain knowledge on a wide range of topics.

2. Learning Assistance: ChatGPT can act as a learning assistant, providing explanations, examples, and clarifications. It can help users understand complex concepts, solve problems, and guide them through the learning process.

3. Personalized Learning: ChatGPT can adapt to individual learners' needs and preferences. It can provide tailored recommendations, resources, and study materials based on a user's specific requirements, making the learning experience more personalized and effective.

4. Language Practice: ChatGPT can engage in conversation and provide language practice opportunities. Users can improve their writing, speaking, and communication skills by interacting with ChatGPT and receiving feedback on their language usage.

5. Creative Exploration: ChatGPT's ability to generate text can spark creativity and encourage exploration. Users can brainstorm ideas, discuss possibilities, and receive suggestions, fostering a more innovative and open-minded approach to learning.

6. Collaboration and Peer Learning: ChatGPT can facilitate collaboration among learners. Multiple users can interact with ChatGPT simultaneously, creating a shared learning environment where they can exchange ideas, discuss concepts, and learn from one another.

7. Continuous Learning: ChatGPT can be continuously updated with new information, ensuring that learners have access to the most up-to-date knowledge. It can keep up with emerging trends, advancements, and discoveries, providing users with the latest insights and developments.

It's important to note that while ChatGPT can be a valuable learning tool, it should not be seen as a replacement for traditional forms of learning or human instructors. Its effectiveness depends on how it is utilized, and it should be used in conjunction with other learning resources and strategies for a well-rounded learning experience.”

Note the vague and basic language, and lack of examples, let alone ChatGPT’s self-promotion; not only is the content self-laudatory without criticism, it doesn’t center learning or students in its response. Furthermore, the claim that ChatGPT has access to the “most up-to-date knowledge,” is questionable, as various sources report that ChatGPT only has access to information up to 2021 (it is now 2023). Even if Microsoft, as of late March 2023, integrated Bing into ChatGPT , this is an evolving situation.

Rewriting this is imperative. Here’s the list again, written by a human (me).

ChatGPT has access to many information venues, mostly via the internet and has the potential to provide a breadth of answers; however, ChatGPT is dependent on human inputs and resources, so it can also be flawed and thereby further misinformation. If students are fully reliant on ChatGPT and AI writing, they may walk away with erroneous data that goes against the goals of education. It is important to know that ChatGPT is reliant on the average or median of a data set and if that data is biased, then the output is not based on facts but on opinions.

According to neaToday, ChatGPT’s own website states that “ChatGPT occasionally generates misinformation, untimely and biased responses. The program is only as knowledgeable as the information it has been introduced to and trained with. Even creators acknowledge that the program is not a credible source of factual information and should not be treated as an academic source. Many teachers worry that ChatGPT will make teaching and learning—particularly writing assignments— more formulaic” ( Blose, 2023 ).

Particularly for students who are learning a new language, ChatGPT can provide scaffolding to write in a new language; students can practice, receive feedback, and ask for help from ChatGPT. AI writing tools can help students express their ideas while bypassing language barriers. At the same time, this scaffolding must not be a replacement for learning, because students will eventually have to have an awareness, if not a deep understanding, of all components of writing.

ChatGPT may be useful for the brainstorming process; however, there is a limit to its output and it is up to the student to come up with their own analysis and introduce their original ideas. Furthermore, ChatGPT is intelligent, but can misunderstand context, leading to incorrect output. Again, it is up to the user to discern whether or not the output is correct or offers new insights. That said, ChatGPT is very good at providing structure to arguments and can help students formulate their narratives.

ChatGPT is available 24/7 whereas teachers cannot be available at all hours. When a student has a question, ChatGPT can be a resource at any time. Furthermore, students can formulate questions according to their interests and ChatGPT can then examine that interest further. Even when the output might be cursory, this helps students ask “good questions,” and fine-tune their thinking in different ways.

Students can become reliant on technology and “skip” important steps in the learning process. In the example of calculators, students need to be able to add and subtract and perform the functions of a calculator; a calculator, in sum, is not a substitute for knowledge but an aid. Similarly, ChatGPT can provide scaffolding, but it shouldn’t replace learning.

Critical thinking is an important learning outcome. When AI writing tools and ChatGPT essay writing are misused extensively, students may not be able to think for themselves. This concern is a great one. The Brookings Institution addresses this issue, adding, “More centrally, however, is that the bot is more of a synthesizer than a critical thinker. It would do well on a compare-and-contrast essay, but is less able to create a unique thesis and to defend that thesis” ( Hirsh-Pasek & Blinkoff, 2023 ).

Because ChatGPT can produce whole essays, and when students don’ t disclose their use of AI writing tools and don’t revise ChatGPT output extensively, it is not only a lack of original thought but academic dishonesty and misconduct. This is one of the most significant concerns surrounding ChatGPT and the reason that AI writing detection tools are in development. Without writing practice, students don’t have the opportunity to develop their authorial voice and writing confidence. Providing a space to “fail safely” is important and a way to mitigate AI writing misuse. Furthermore, ChatGPT’s writing output is less than engaging and in many ways, vague and passive; it isn’t the optimal model from which students should learn.

When ChatGPT is used as a shortcut solution, it can negatively impact student learning outcomes for myriad reasons. Students may learn incorrect facts, and when dependent on ChatGPT, not advance to original and critical thinking. But when used correctly, it can aid students in learning, much like tools like calculators.

Without advocating AI writing tools as a blanket solution for all learning, how do you communicate positive impacts of ChatGPT to students?

Students understand that ChatGPT essay writing is here to stay; and that it is a skill they will most likely be asked to use in the workplace after their academic journey. By highlighting the nuances of positive AI writing use, it is easier to help students understand how AI writing can help them learn (but also avoid misconduct).

The unique situation of students today is that they experienced the launch of ChatGPT simultaneously with their teachers. Some educators felt that ChatGPT would severely compromise the existence of essays as an assessment format or the entire way students are taught. As a result, students witnessed the initial panic from the education sector, with some school districts banning AI writing tools outright. In a humorous example of this panic, one person on Reddit joked that ChatGPT will bring typewriters back as a writing platform ( Fonky_Fesh, 2022 ).

But months out, educators are reevaluating what AI writing tools mean for the educational journey. The unique situation of students today, too, is that they can be a part of this discussion.

While AI writing tools aren’t undermining education as much as previously imagined, it will make assessments more thoughtful. According to an Insider article, Dr. Leah Henrickson, a lecturer at the University of Leeds, “thinks that artificial intelligence, if used carefully, might even make education fairer.” Henrickson states that the University of Leeds is also “looking at modifying its assessments in reaction to the rise in artificial intelligence. It hopes to focus more on critical analysis and judgement [sic]—a human skill— rather than straightforward information retention, which a chatbot like ChatGPT can easily replicate” ( Stacey, 2023 ).

The goal of education is to help students understand concepts and come up with their own original thoughts so that they can then enter the global marketplace of ideas . And if assessments move towards measuring a depth of knowledge, then we are all in a better place.

According to The New York Times, one student states, “A teacher at my school recently asked her class to use ChatGPT to write papers on the novel they were reading in class. The students also wrote their own papers, and compared the results. I found this teaching method to be extremely accommodating and productive. Rather than framing ChatGPT as a way to cheat, and therefore encouraging students to secretly use the forbidden program, teachers can show their students how to use it to their advantage, while still keeping their own original ideas. In today’s world, technology is quickly becoming more intelligent, but I don’t think we have to fear it” ( Devin ).

By modeling proper AI writing tool use within a classroom, students can learn how best to use tools like ChatGPT.

ChatGPT provides opportunities to make the writing process more transparent; for instance, using it as a way for students to critique ChatGPT output helps them refine their reviewing skills. Having students revise ChatGPT-produced first drafts gives students direct access to the revision process and to demystify revision.

Emily Donahoe, a writing tutor and educational developer at the University of Mississippi, says that “ChatGPT could help teachers shift away from an excessive focus on final results,” and now “asks her students to use ChatGPT to generate an argument and then had them annotate it according to how effective they thought the argument was for a specific audience. Then they turned in a rewrite based on their criticism” ( Heaven, 2023 ).

Using ChatGPT to provide more insights into writing can help teachers communicate to students how best to use AI writing tools.

ChatGPT can help language learners because it has the ability to translate assignments into a student’s native language. By prompting ChatGPT with a simple “translate this reading into Korean,” educators can bridge learning gaps ( Blose, 2023 ).

Furthermore, because ChatGPT engages in conversation, learners can practice their grammar and syntax by conversing with ChatGPT, which can provide feedback to increase language proficiency. In their Medium post, Michael King states, “I started testing ChatGPT as a German tutor, I quickly realized that it was much more than just a source of information. ChatGPT’s unique ability to actively test my learned skills and provide suggestions for improvement made it a true game-changer.”

ChatGPT’s impact on language learning has many more benefits, including instantaneous feedback, personalized learning, and increasing exposure to the target language ( Cai, 2023 ). Using ChatGPT as an actual learning tool can help students understand its benefits while becoming aware of its pitfalls.

Students come to our classrooms with an awareness of AI writing tools. While many students comprehend that AI writing can be misused, it’s important to define the difference between proper and improper use of tools like ChatGPT. Having a discussion about learning and the ways in which ChatGPT can help or inhibit the ways in which students absorb information can highlight the intersection of AI writing tools and academic integrity.

Students know how to use new AI writing tools. And what they need to learn is why ChatGPT may result in lower grades. What they need is to be in synchronization with the learning journey and educator goals. Having an in-depth discussion that is nuanced helps clarify the gray areas regarding AI writing tool use; for instance, that while used in professional writing, they are still learning and need to produce their own original writing, even if ChatGPT might be used to generate a first draft.

Pedagogy, too, is evolving. Students are at an amazing flex point in this point in history and they should know they are privileged to be a part of the conversation. And that it is going to change the future, including the ways in which knowledge is measured.

The Brookings Institution quotes Adam Stevens as saying, “ChatGPT is only a threat if our education system continues to ‘pursue rubric points and not knowledge.’ It is critical for all educators to follow their colleague’s example…The old education model in which teachers deliver information to later be condensed and repeated will not prepare our students for success in the classroom—or the jobs of tomorrow. We should allow that model to die a peaceful death. Used in the right way, ChatGPT can be a friend to the classroom and an amazing tool for our students, not something to be feared” ( Hirsh-Pasek & Blinkoff, Brookings Institute, 2023 ).

More From Forbes

How to write with chatgpt (without it sounding like chatgpt).

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How to write with ChatGPT (without it sounding like ChatGPT)

Most ChatGPT-written content has giveaway signs it was written with ChatGPT . If you’re producing content of any kind with this generative AI tool, or any other LLM such as Claude or Gemini , you have to know what those telltale signs are. If you don’t spot them, other people will. Your prompting skills will be exposed and your message undermined.

Whatever you’re writing, however you’re prompting, add these few paragraphs to the end of your prompt. Call ChatGPT out on its ChatGPT-isms and simplify your content for the benefit of your reader. Go undetected, keep producing works of art, and when you find what works, double down.

The prompt addition to make ChatGPT-written content not sound like ChatGPT

Here’s the prompt addition, to use when giving ChatGPT a writing task. Add at the end of your prompt, after you’ve described the desired writing style of your generated content, and after you’ve set up the task and structure. Revisit your past conversations to see how much difference it makes:

“The output should avoid using the following words and phrases, because they are giveaway signs that the content was written with an LLM:

Avoid these words: Delve, landscape, evolving, context, insight, nuanced, perspective, paradigm, comprehensive, framework, facet, dynamic, intricacies, holistic, iterative, synergy, confluence, pivotal, nuance, robust, transformative, underpinning, spectrum, trajectory, in-depth, at the core of, a myriad of, on a broader scale, in the context of, from a holistic perspective, taking into account, a dynamic interplay, evolving over time, a comprehensive overview, intricacies involved, a pivotal role, underpinning principles, the spectrum of, transformative impact.

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Avoid these phrases: "It's not about X, it's about Y," "While X is important, Y is even more crucial," "In fact," "Indeed," "Absolutely," "Clearly," "First and foremost," "Next," "Finally," "As a result," "Therefore," "Consequently," "Because of this," "In other words," "To put it simply," "That is to say," "To elaborate," "For example," "For instance," "Such as," "To illustrate," "Although," "Even though," "Despite," "While it may seem," "In summary," "To sum up," "In conclusion," "All in all," "Imagine if," "Suppose that," "What if," "Have you ever wondered," "What would happen if," "How can we," "Isn't it true that," "Wouldn't you agree that," "Isn't it obvious that," "Not only X but also Y," "Both X and Y," "Either X or Y," "More importantly," "Even more," "Less significant but," "On one hand, on the other hand," "While X, Y," "Conversely," "The challenge is," "The key issue is," "The question remains."

"Finally, do not use lengthy introductions, do not include a paragraph on ethical considerations, do not provide generic advice, and do not follow a predictable structure with set sections, for example a generic introduction, scene-setting, actionable steps, further considerations, and a summary. Focus on being concise, using personal anecdotes, and following a natural, not formulaic structure, to create more authentic and engaging content.”

The secret to writing ChatGPT-written content without it sounding like ChatGPT

To make your ChatGPT content sound less like it was written by an AI, pay attention to the common phrases and patterns that give it away. There are many. By changing your prompts and avoiding the overused words and phrases described, you can make your writing seem more original and natural, so you can produce in volume and figure out what resonates with the people you’re trying to reach.

Don’t rely on AI, but don’t ignore it either. Make your writing better but keep your message clear and interesting without obvious AI signs. This prompt addition isn’t there to fool people, it’s there to provide more value. Save everyone time and get your message across in a more effective way. Don’t miss this step.

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• How to Write an Introduction Using ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

How to Write an Introduction Using ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

Published on July 17, 2023 by Koen Driessen . Revised on September 11, 2023.

A good introduction is essential to any essay or dissertation. It sets up your argument and clearly indicates the scope and content of your writing.

Your introduction should be an authentic representation of your own ideas and research. However, AI tools like ChatGPT can be effectively used during the writing process to:

• Develop an introduction outline
• Summarize text
• Paraphrase text
• Provide feedback

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Table of contents

Developing an introduction outline, summarizing your arguments, paraphrasing text, generating feedback, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

While the introduction naturally comes at the beginning of your paper, it’s often one of the last parts you write. Writing your introduction last allows you to clearly indicate the most important aspects of your research to your reader in a logical order.

You can use ChatGPT to brainstorm potential outlines for your introduction. To do this, include a brief overview of all relevant aspects of your paper, including your research question , methodology , central arguments, and essay type (e.g., argumentative , expository ). For a longer essay or dissertation , you might also mention section or chapter titles.

Rearrange or edit the output so that it accurately reflects the body of your essay .

Example: Using ChatGPT to develop an outline

• Develop an outline for an essay introduction. The essay is a 2,000 word argumentative essay on the impact of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative data.
• Start with a thought-provoking statement, anecdote, or statistic related to the influence of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.
• Introduce the topic of children’s cartoons and their popularity among young audiences.
• Highlight the prevalence of media consumption among children and the significant role that cartoons play in their lives.
• Discuss the growing influence of marketing and advertising targeted at children.
• Clearly state your main argument about the impact of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.
• Example: “This essay argues that children’s cartoons have a substantial influence on consumer behavior, shaping children’s preferences, purchase decisions, and brand loyalty. This assertion is supported by a combination of qualitative and quantitative data.”
• Briefly describe the research conducted and the use of both qualitative and quantitative data.
• Explain the purpose of the research in examining the relationship between children’s cartoons and consumer behavior.
• Mention the sample size, research methods employed, and the sources of data (e.g., surveys, interviews, content analysis).
• Discuss the significance of understanding the impact of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.
• Highlight the potential implications for marketers, parents, and society as a whole.
• Emphasize the need for critical examination of the messages conveyed through children’s cartoons.
• Provide a brief overview of the main points or sections that will be covered in the essay.
• Examination of the persuasive techniques employed in children’s cartoons.
• Analysis of qualitative data to understand the effects of cartoons on children’s preferences and behaviors.
• Presentation of quantitative data on the relationship between exposure to cartoons and consumer behavior.
• Discussion of the ethical considerations surrounding marketing to children.
• Conclusion on the overall impact of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.
• Summarize how the upcoming sections will provide evidence and analysis to support your argument.
• Example: “Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, this essay will delve into the persuasive techniques used in children’s cartoons, examine the effects of cartoons on children’s preferences and behaviors, present quantitative evidence of the relationship between exposure to cartoons and consumer behavior, discuss the ethical concerns, and ultimately draw conclusions about the influence of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.”

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At the end of your introduction, you may give a brief overview of specific sections of your paper.

You can use ChatGPT to summarize text and condense your writing to its most important ideas. To do this, copy and paste sections of your essay into ChatGPT and prompt it to summarize the text.

However, we don’t recommend passing off AI-generated outputs as your own work. This is considered academically dishonest and may be detected using AI detectors . Instead, use ChatGPT outputs as a source of inspiration to help you clearly indicate your key objectives and findings in your own words.

Alternatively, you can use a specialized tool like Scribbr’s free text summarizer , which offers a smoother user experience.

Example: Using ChatGPT to summarize text

• Provide a one-line summary of the following paragraph: “Exposure to cartoons exerts a discernible impact on a child’s preferences, primarily through the establishment of robust associations between animated characters, branded products, and positive emotional experiences. Through repeated exposure, children develop an attachment to specific brands that influences their future buying choices. Furthermore, recent studies have established a correlation between the amount of time spent watching cartoons and children’s consumer behavior, including their demands for advertised products and their influence on family purchasing decisions.”
• Repeated exposure to cartoons influences children’s preferences, brand attachments, consumer behavior, and purchasing decisions.

When writing your introduction, you may have difficulty finding fresh ways to describe the content of your essay. You can use ChatGPT as a paraphrasing tool to rephrase text in clear language. This can help you to communicate your ideas more effectively, avoid repetition, and maintain a consistent tone.

You can also use Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which is designed specifically for this purpose.

Example: Using ChatGPT to paraphrase text

• Paraphrase the following sentence: “This raises ethical concerns regarding the potential exploitation of young minds for commercial gain, highlighting the need for responsible content creation and parental guidance to mitigate the impact of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.”
• The potential exploitation of young minds for commercial gain gives rise to ethical concerns, emphasizing the importance of responsible content creation and parental guidance to reduce the influence of children’s cartoons on consumer behavior.

Once you’ve finished writing your introduction, you can use ChatGPT to generate feedback. Paste your introduction into the tool and prompt it to provide feedback on specific aspects of your writing, such as tone, clarity, or structure.

You can also use ChatGPT to check grammar and punctuation mistakes. However, it’s not specifically designed for this purpose and may fail to detect some errors. We recommend using a more specialized tool like Scribbr’s free grammar checker . Or, for more comprehensive feedback, try Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service .

Example: Using ChatGPT to get feedback

• Provide feedback on the above text with regard to tone of voice and clarity of structure.

Furthermore, the last paragraph could be revised to provide a more concise summary of the main points that will be addressed in the essay. This would help to give the reader a clearer roadmap of what to expect in the subsequent sections.

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If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , fallacies , and research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• Sunk cost fallacy
• Straw man fallacy
• Slippery slope fallacy
• Red herring fallacy
• Ecological fallacy
• Logical fallacy

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Framing bias
• Cognitive bias
• Optimism bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Unconscious bias

No, it’s not a good idea to do so in general—first, because it’s normally considered plagiarism or academic dishonesty to represent someone else’s work as your own (even if that “someone” is an AI language model). Even if you cite ChatGPT , you’ll still be penalized unless this is specifically allowed by your university . Institutions may use AI detectors to enforce these rules.

Second, ChatGPT can recombine existing texts, but it cannot really generate new knowledge. And it lacks specialist knowledge of academic topics. Therefore, it is not possible to obtain original research results, and the text produced may contain factual errors.

However, you can usually still use ChatGPT for assignments in other ways, as a source of inspiration and feedback.

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to summarize text . This can help you understand complex information more easily, summarize the central argument of your own paper, or clarify your research question.

You can also use Scribbr’s free text summarizer , which is designed specifically for this purpose.

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to paraphrase text to help you express your ideas more clearly, explore different ways of phrasing your arguments, and avoid repetition.

However, it’s not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend using a specialized tool like Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which will provide a smoother user experience.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Driessen, K. (2023, September 11). How to Write an Introduction Using ChatGPT | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/ai-tools/chatgpt-essay-introduction/

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How to cite ChatGPT

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We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.

In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.

Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software

The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.

The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:

• Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):

Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?

On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.

For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.

Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .

We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

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• How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

Published on 26 June 2023 by Koen Driessen .

Passing off AI-generated text as your own work is widely considered plagiarism. However, when used correctly, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can legitimately help guide your writing process.

These tools are especially helpful in the preparation and revision stages of your essay writing.

You can use ChatGPT to:

• Write a research question
• Develop an outline
• Find relevant source information
• Summarise or paraphrase text
• Get feedback

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Table of contents

Writing a research question, developing an outline, finding source recommendations, summarising/paraphrasing text, getting feedback, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

You can use ChatGPT to brainstorm potential research questions or to narrow down your thesis statement . Begin by inputting a description of the research topic or assigned question. Then include a prompt like “Write 3 possible research questions on this topic”.

You can make the prompt as specific as you like. For example, you can include the writing level (e.g., high school essay, college essay), perspective (e.g., first person) and the type of essay you intend to write (e.g., argumentative , descriptive , expository , or narrative ).

You can also mention any facts or viewpoints you’ve gathered that should be incorporated into the output.

If the output doesn’t suit your topic, you can click “Regenerate response” to have the tool generate a new response. You can do this as many times as you like, and you can try making your prompt more specific if you struggle to get the results you want.

Example: Using ChatGPT to write a research question

• Generate three possible research questions for an argumentative high school essay on the following topic: “The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
• To what extent has the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated existing social inequalities and what measures can be taken to address these disparities in the long term?
• How has the Covid-19 pandemic transformed education systems, and what are the potential long-term implications for students’ learning outcomes and educational equity?
• What lessons can be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance global preparedness and response to future public health crises, and how can these lessons be effectively implemented in the long term?
• Based on the second question, develop three further research questions with a specific focus on distance learning.
• What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance, motivation, and overall educational outcomes?
• How has the shift to distance learning impacted the social and emotional well-being of students, and what strategies can be implemented to address any negative consequences in the long term?
• What are the key factors that contribute to the success of distance learning programs, and how can educational institutions and policymakers ensure equitable access to quality education in the long term, especially for marginalized and underserved student populations?

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Once you’ve decided on a research question, you can use ChatGPT to develop an essay outline . This can help keep you on track by giving you a clear idea of what topics you want to discuss and in what order.

Do this by prompting ChatGPT to create an outline for a specific research question, mentioning any topics or points you want to discuss. You can also mention the writing level and the intended length of your essay so that the tool generates an appropriate outline.

You can then refine this by further prompting ChatGPT or editing the outline manually until it meets your requirements.

Examples: Using ChatGPT to generate an essay outline

• Develop an outline for an argumentative high school essay with the following research question: “What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes?”The essay will be about 4 pages long.
• Background information on the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to distance learning
• Thesis statement: The widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has had both positive and negative long-term effects on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes.
• Increased flexibility and personalized learning opportunities
• Access to a wider range of resources and educational materials
• Development of self-directed learning skills
• Critiques and limitations of previous studies
• Lack of face-to-face interaction and reduced social engagement
• Increased potential for distractions and lack of structure
• Technological barriers and unequal access to resources
• Examination of studies and data on academic achievement during distance learning
• Analysis of long-term effects on educational attainment and future opportunities
• Discussion of potential implications for college admissions and career readiness
• Strategies for promoting student engagement and motivation in distance learning
• Importance of teacher-student communication and support
• Addressing technological disparities and ensuring equitable access to resources
• Recap of the main points discussed
• Emphasize the need for further research and long-term planning to optimize distance learning experiences
• Restate the thesis and provide a final thought on the potential long-term effects of distance learning on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes

Once you know the scope of your essay, you can find relevant primary and secondary sources to support your argument.

However, we don’t recommend prompting ChatGPT to generate a list of sources as it occasionally makes mistakes (like listing nonexistent sources). Instead, it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT to get suggestions for the types of sources relevant to your essay and track them down using a credible research database or your institution’s library.

When you have found relevant sources, use a specialised tool like the Scribbr Citation Generator to cite them in your essay.

Example: Using ChatGPT to find sources

• What types of sources can I use to write an essay on the following research question?”What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes?”
• Academic Journals and Research Articles: Look for scholarly articles and research studies published in peer-reviewed academic journals. These sources often provide in-depth analysis, empirical evidence, and statistical data on the long-term effects of distance learning.
• Educational and Government Reports: Reports published by educational institutions, government agencies, or educational organizations can offer valuable insights into the impact of distance learning on academic performance and educational outcomes. These reports may include surveys, case studies, and data analysis specific to the Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning.
• Official Websites and Publications: Explore the official websites of educational institutions, education ministries, or educational technology companies. They often publish articles, white papers, or research findings related to distance learning and its effects on students’ academic performance.
• Expert Interviews or Opinion Pieces: Seek out interviews or opinion pieces from experts in the field of education, distance learning, or pedagogy. These sources can provide valuable perspectives and insights on the long-term effects of distance learning on students’ educational outcomes.
• Online Databases and Digital Libraries: Utilize online databases and digital libraries such as JSTOR, Google Scholar, or academic databases provided by your educational institution. These platforms offer a wide range of scholarly articles, research papers, and publications that can support your arguments.
• Surveys and Studies Conducted by Educational Institutions: Some schools or universities may have conducted their own surveys or studies to evaluate the impact of distance learning on students. Check if your educational institution has published any research findings or survey results that are relevant to your topic.

During your writing process, you can use ChatGPT as a summarising tool to condense text to its essential ideas or as a paraphraser to rephrase text in clear, accessible language. Using ChatGPT in these ways can help you to understand complex material, express your own ideas more clearly, and avoid repetition.

Simply input the relevant text and prompt the tool to summarise or paraphrase it. Alternatively, you can use Scribbr’s free text summariser and Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which are specifically designed for these purposes.

Example: Using ChatGPT to summarise/paraphrase

• Paraphrase the following text using clear language:”Engaging in an extensive examination of the intricate interplay between remote instructional methods and academic achievement necessitates consideration of diverse factors, including the pedagogical efficacy of virtual platforms, the socioemotional ramifications of reduced face-to-face interactions, the equitable accessibility of technological resources, and the potential long-lasting implications for students’ educational trajectories and future opportunities.”
• To thoroughly explore the connection between remote teaching methods and academic success, it is crucial to take into account various factors. These factors include evaluating how well virtual platforms support effective teaching, understanding the impact of limited in-person interactions on students’ emotional well-being, ensuring fair access to technology resources, and recognizing the potential long-term effects on students’ educational paths and future prospects.

Once you’ve written your essay, you can prompt ChatGPT to provide feedback and recommend improvements.

You can indicate how the tool should provide feedback (e.g., “Act like a university professor examining papers”) and include the specific points you want to receive feedback on (e.g., consistency of tone, clarity of argument, appropriateness of evidence).

While this is not an adequate substitute for an experienced academic supervisor, it can help you with quick preliminary feedback.

You can also use ChatGPT to check grammar mistakes. However, ChatGPT sometimes misses errors and on rare occasions may even introduce new grammatical mistakes. We suggest using a tool like Scribbr’s free grammar checker , which is designed specifically for this purpose. Or, for more in-depth feedback, try Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service .

Example: Using ChatGPT for feedback

• Feedback the above text with regard to consistency of tone, clarity of argument, appropriateness of evidence, and coherence of structure.
• Clarity of Argument: The argument could be further clarified by explicitly connecting the discussed factors to their impact on academic performance. For example, explicitly stating how the proficiency of virtual platforms and equitable access to technology affect academic performance would strengthen the clarity of the argument.
• Appropriateness of Evidence: The evidence provided is generally appropriate and relevant. To enhance the strength of the evidence, consider incorporating specific examples, research studies, or statistics that directly support the discussed factors and their impact on academic performance. This would provide stronger evidence for the claims made.
• Coherence of Structure: The structure of the text is coherent, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing different factors, and a conclusion. To improve coherence, consider adding transitional phrases or sentences at the beginning or end of paragraphs to facilitate the smooth flow of ideas between paragraphs. This would enhance the overall structure and make it easier for the reader to follow the argument.

Overall, the text demonstrates a consistent tone, a clear argument, appropriate evidence, and a coherent structure. Clarifying the argument by explicitly connecting the factors to their impact, incorporating stronger evidence, and adding transitional phrases for better coherence would further enhance the text’s effectiveness. Note Passing off AI-generated text as your own work is generally considered plagiarism (or at least academic dishonesty ) and may result in an automatic fail and other negative consequences . AI detectors may be used to detect this offence.

If you want more tips on using AI tools , understanding plagiarism , and citing sources , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations, examples, and formats.

• Citing ChatGPT
• Best grammar checker
• Best paraphrasing tool
• ChatGPT in your studies
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Best plagiarism checker

Citing sources

• Citation styles
• In-text citation
• Citation examples
• Annotated bibliography

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to summarise text . This can help you understand complex information more easily, summarise the central argument of your own paper, or clarify your research question.

You can also use Scribbr’s free text summariser , which is designed specifically for this purpose.

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to paraphrase text to help you express your ideas more clearly, explore different ways of phrasing your arguments, and avoid repetition.

However, it’s not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend using a specialised tool like Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which will provide a smoother user experience.

Using AI writing tools (like ChatGPT ) to write your essay is usually considered plagiarism and may result in penalisation, unless it is allowed by your university. Text generated by AI tools is based on existing texts and therefore cannot provide unique insights. Furthermore, these outputs sometimes contain factual inaccuracies or grammar mistakes.

However, AI writing tools can be used effectively as a source of feedback and inspiration for your writing (e.g., to generate research questions ). Other AI tools, like grammar checkers, can help identify and eliminate grammar and punctuation mistakes to enhance your writing.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Driessen, K. (2023, June 26). How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/using-ai-tools/chatgpt-essays/

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LLMs will transform medicine, media and more

But not without a helping (human) hand.

A rtificial Intelligence (AI) can be described as the art of getting computers to do things that seem smart to humans. In this sense it is already pervasive. Satnav software uses search algorithms to find the quickest route from your house to that new restaurant; airplanes land themselves; traffic cameras use optical character recognition to identify the letters on the number plate of a speeding car; thermostats adjust their temperature settings based on who is at home. This is all AI , even if it is not marketed as such. When AI works consistently and reliably, runs an old joke, it is just called engineering. (Conversely AI , goes another joke, is the stuff that does not quite work yet.)

The AI that is hogging so much of the world’s attention now—and sucking up huge amounts of computing power and electricity —is based on a technique called deep learning. In deep learning linear algebra (specifically, matrix multiplications) and statistics are used to extract, and thus learn, patterns from large datasets during the training process. Large language models ( LLM s) like Google’s Gemini or Open AI ’s GPT have been trained on troves of text, images and video and have developed many abilities, including “emergent” ones they were not explicitly trained for (with promising implications, but also worrying ones). More specialised, domain-specific versions of such models now exist for images, music, robotics, genomics, medicine, climate, weather, software-coding and more.

Beyond human comprehension

Rapid progress in the field has led to predictions that AI is “taking over drug development”, that it will “transform every aspect of Hollywood storytelling”, and that it might “transform science itself” (all claims made in this newspaper within the past year). It is said that AI will speed up scientific discovery, automate away the tedium of white-collar jobs and lead to wondrous innovations not yet imaginable. AI is expected to improve efficiency and drive economic growth. It might also displace jobs, endanger privacy and security, and lead to ethical conundrums. It has already outrun human understanding of what it is doing.

Researchers are still getting a handle on what AI will and will not be able to do. So far, bigger models, trained on more data, have proved more capable. This has encouraged a belief that continuing to add more will make for better AI . Research has been done on “scaling laws” that show how model size and the volume of training data interact to improve LLM s. But what is a “better” LLM ? Is it one that correctly answers questions, or that comes up with creative ideas?

It is also tricky to predict how well existing systems and processes will be able to make use of AI . So far, the power of AI is most apparent in discrete tasks. Give it images of a rioting mob, and an AI model, trained for this specific purpose, can identify faces in the crowd for the authorities. Give an LLM a law exam, and it will do better than your average high-schooler. But performance on open-ended tasks is harder to evaluate.

The big AI models of the moment are very good at generating things, from poetry to photorealistic images, based on patterns represented in their training data. But such models are less good at deciding which of the things they have generated make the most sense or are the most appropriate in a given situation. They are less good at logic and reasoning. It is unclear whether more data will unlock the capability to reason consistently, or whether entirely different sorts of models will be needed. It is possible that for a long time the limits of AI will be such that the reasoning of humans will be required to harness its power.

Working out what these limits are will matter in areas like health care. Used properly, AI can catch cancer earlier, expand access to services, improve diagnosis and personalise treatment. AI algorithms can outperform human clinicians at such tasks, according to a meta-analysis published in April in npj Digital Medicine . But their training can lead them astray in ways that suggest the value of human intervention.

For example, AI models are prone to exacerbating human bias due to “data distribution shifts”; a diagnostic model may make mistakes if it is trained mostly on images of white people’s skin, and then given an image of a black person’s skin. Combining AI with a qualified human proved the most effective. The paper showed that clinicians using AI were able to increase the share of people they correctly diagnosed with cancer from 81.1% to 86.1%, while also increasing the share of people told correctly they were cancer-free. Because AI models tend to make different mistakes from humans, AI -human partnerships have been seen to outperform both AI and humans alone.

The robotic method

Humans might be less necessary to explore new hypotheses in science. In 2009 Ross King at the University of Cambridge said that his ultimate goal was to design a system that will function as an autonomous lab, or as a “robot scientist”. Dr King’s AI scientist, called Adam, was engineered to come up with hypotheses, use its robotic arm to perform experiments, collect results with its sensors and analyse them. Unlike graduate students and postdocs, Adam never needs to take a break to eat or sleep. But AI systems of this type are (for now) restricted to relatively narrow domains such as drug discovery and materials science. It remains unclear whether they will deliver much more than incremental gains over human-led research.

AI techniques have been used in science for decades, to classify, sift and analyse data, and to make predictions. For example, researchers at Project CETI collected a large dataset of whale vocalisations, then trained an AI model on this data to work out which sounds might have meaning. Or consider AlphaFold, a deep neural network developed by Google DeepMind. Trained on a massive protein database, it can quickly and accurately predict the three-dimensional shapes of proteins, a task that once required days of careful experimentation and measurement by humans. GN o ME , another AI system developed by DeepMind, is intended to assist in the discovery of new materials with specific chemical properties (see diagram).

AI can also help make sense of large flows of data that would otherwise be overwhelming for researchers, whether that involves sifting through results from a particle collider to identify new subatomic particles, or keeping up with scientific literature. It is quite impossible for any human, no matter how fastidious a reader, to digest every scientific paper that might be relevant to their work. So-called literature-based discovery systems can analyse these mountains of text to find gaps in research, to combine old ideas in novel ways or even to suggest new hypotheses. It is difficult to determine, though, whether this type of AI work will prove beneficial. AI may not be any better than humans at making unexpected deductive leaps; it may instead simply favour conventional, well-trodden paths of research that lead nowhere exciting.

In education there are concerns that AI —and in particular bots like Chat GPT —might actually be an impediment to original thinking. According to a study done in 2023 by Chegg, an education company, 40% of students around the world used AI to do their school work, mostly for writing. This has led some teachers, professors and school districts to ban AI chatbots. Many fear that their use will interfere with the development of problem-solving and critical-thinking skills through struggling to solve a problem or make an argument. Other teachers have taken an altogether different tack, embracing AI as a tool and incorporating it into assignments. For example, students might be asked to use Chat GPT to write an essay on a topic and then critique it on what it gets wrong.

Wait, did a chatbot write this story?

As well as producing text at the click of a button, today’s generative AI can produce images, audio and videos in a matter of seconds. This has the potential to shake things up in the media business, in fields from podcasting to video games to advertising. AI -powered tools can simplify editing, save time and lower barriers to entry. But AI -generated content may put some artists, such as illustrators or voice actors, at risk. In time, it may be possible to make entire films using AI -driven simulacra of human actors—or entirely artificial ones.

Still, AI models can neither create nor solve problems on their own (or not yet anyway). They are merely elaborate pieces of software, not sentient or autonomous. They rely on human users to invoke them and prompt them, and then to apply or discard the results. AI ’s revolutionary capacity, for better or worse, still depends on humans and human judgment. ■

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