AI and the Dreaded College Essay
In the coming weeks, college students will begin writing their dreaded end-of-semester essays.
But the landscape has changed. The rise of free, publicly available Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools like ChatGPT and ClaudeAI has transformed how many students do their work.
Since these tools became widely accessible, reliance on them has skyrocketed, leaving educational institutions scrambling to determine the best response.
Should AI use be banned, permitted, or even encouraged? If we prohibit it, how do we realistically prevent students from using it? Some faculty murmur about AI detection tools, while others suggest returning to timed, in-class exams. But if we accept AI as part of the research and writing process, how do we ensure students use it as a tool rather than a crutch?
Regardless of institutional policy and practice, individual instructors must grapple with this reality: students are already using AI. The question is how we guide them to use it wisely.
Mediocrity vs. Excellence
In these crazy fast-paced times, I’m leaning hard on what Seth Godin has to say. AI will inevitably shape or replace many jobs in the coming years, but much of what it produces is generic and uninspired. If all you want is mediocrity, AI can deliver it. I agree.
That’s why I tell my students: if you’re aiming for a C, go ahead—type the assignment prompt into ChatGPT, copy the response, and submit it. You won’t learn much, but you might scrape by.
But here’s the catch: if you consistently settle for mediocrity, you’ll struggle to stand out in the crowded job market. Few employers hire people who regurgitate information.
They value individuals who think critically, synthesize ideas, and communicate with originality. If you let AI do all the work for you, you’re setting yourself up for failure, and training yourself to be replaceable.
A Smarter Approach to AI
I use AI every day. It’s faster and sometimes more effective than the Google searches I used to rely on. But I also recognize its limits. If I ask ChatGPT for the best Japanese restaurant in a neighborhood, and I have the time, that’s just a starting point—I still check Yelp, critically read reviews, and articles written by credible sources, and ultimately decide to try the establishment myself.
Students should use AI not as a substitute for thinking, but as a tool for generating and refining ideas. AI can help create outlines, rephrase awkward sentences, or summarize complex concepts. But the real work—analyzing, questioning, and creating—still has to come from them.
Teaching Thoughtful AI Use
As educators, we’re navigating uncharted territory. Mistakes will be made. But our primary role isn’t to enforce rules—it’s to teach students how to use new technologies that will assist them responsibly and critically. Instead of asking whether AI should be banned or embraced, we should be asking: how do we cultivate excellence in an AI-driven world? Because in the end, it’s not about whether students use AI—it’s about how they use it.
