6 A.I. in the Writing Classroom

[This section will offer an overview on what AI is, what GenAI is, and glosses conversations about how AI fits/doesn’t within the classroom].

What is A.I.? How it’s been in the news lately, but it’s not new technology (a little historicizing). Then transition to the specifics of Gen AI. Also define LLM and how it works. Put it in the context of the controversies around previous writing technology. Cite Dennis Baron and the pencil. Address the alarm and catastrophe; why are people excited and why are people worried. Should we have it broken down by person? A section from Kate’s POV, Nich’s POV, Caroline’s POV?

Blackwell and West

Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies

Generative AI and Policy Development: Guidance from the MLA-CCCC Task Force

Assignment prompt for Ethical Use of Generative AI for Conducting Research

Understanding A.I. in the Classroom

What Is A.I.?

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is a term you’ve probably heard a lot lately, especially since tools like ChatGPT have become widely available. But A.I. isn’t brand new. It’s been around in various forms for decades. Spell checkers, search engines, and even Netflix recommendations all rely on forms of A.I.

Today, most of the buzz is about a specific kind of A.I. called Generative A.I., or GenAI. These are programs that can create new content based on prompts from users. This includes tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. These tools are powered by something called a Large Language Model (LLM). LLMs are trained on huge amounts of text—books, websites, articles, and more. They use patterns in language to “guess” the most likely next word in a sentence, kind of like a very advanced autocomplete. They don’t think, feel, or understand context like people do. They just predict words based on patterns in their training data.

That makes LLMs really good at generating text that sounds human, but it doesn’t mean they know what they’re saying. This difference matters a lot when we start using A.I. tools in our writing and thinking processes.

Haven’t We Been Here Before?

Kind of. Every time a new writing technology comes along, people worry. When pencils were introduced, some educators thought students would forget how to memorize. Scholar Dennis Baron writes about this in his book A Better Pencil, showing that even “ordinary” tools like typewriters and spellcheckers sparked fears about cheating and laziness [Kate might add more here?]

Just like those earlier tools, GenAI raises new questions. But the scale and speed of these technologies are unprecedented.

Why Are People Excited—and Why Are Others Worried?

People are excited about GenAI because it can:

• Help brainstorm and organize ideas
• Rewrite or rephrase confusing writing
• Summarize or simplify complex sources
• Speed up certain types of research or editing

At the same time, people are worried because:

• GenAI can sometimes “hallucinate” and make things up
• It may reinforce bias, racism, or linguistic stereotypes
• It raises questions about originality, plagiarism, and ethics
• It uses huge amounts of energy and data, which has environmental and labor costs
• There are concerns about its long-term impact on critical thinking skills and attention spans

Different Perspectives: What Do Educators Think?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to GenAI in education. Teachers, researchers, and institutions are still figuring it out. Some believe GenAI can be a useful tool, like a calculator for writers. Others argue that it undermines the purpose of writing—thinking through ideas, communicating authentically, and developing a voice.

We’ll include a few different viewpoints below to give you a sense of how these conversations are happening in real classrooms.

Here are some important resources on GenAI and writing. These readings go deeper into the ethical, professional, and pedagogical concerns that teachers and scholars are exploring.
Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies
This guide frames refusal as a deliberate and informed choice, not fear or ignorance. The authors argue that writing is a deeply human, rhetorical act that GenAI cannot fully replicate. They raise concerns about labor, equity, language homogenization, and the environmental and ideological impacts of GenAI in writing education.

Generative AI and Policy Development: Guidance from the MLA-CCCC Task Force
This working paper provides thoughtful guidance for schools and teachers developing classroom policies about GenAI. It encourages flexible, tiered policies—at the institutional, departmental, and individual class level—and emphasizes student learning, ethical development, and critical AI literacy over blanket bans or surveillance.

Ethical Use of Generative AI for Conducting Research
This activity guide outlines how students can use GenAI tools ethically during the research phase of writing. It emphasizes defined, purposeful engagement (like forming research questions or simplifying dense articles), while also prompting students to reflect on when and how GenAI use crosses ethical lines.

Final Thought

GenAI isn’t going away. But how we choose to use (or not use) it in our writing matters. This chapter offers a space to think about your own relationship to these tools. Talk with your instructors, ask questions, and make thoughtful choices about how GenAI fits into your learning process.