I used ChatGPT to write an essay for me, and here’s the experience:

I’m a student who saw the rise of AI use, and never dabbled in using AI to write essays. My math homework? All the time. However, I was always too scared to use it in my writing. I wanted things to be as authentic and “In my voice” as possible. However, using ChatGPT to write my essay was defiantly an experience that really improved my understanding of writing.

It sounds silly to say that making something write my essay for me actually improved my writing, but I wholeheartedly believe it. ChatGPT relies on your prompts and what information you feed it, while it has access to information everywhere, its performance depends on your script. This was evident when you’re often met with:

While it’s quite obvious that an AI can’t read, it made me realize that AI can’t do everything. We placed the power of AI on such a pedestal, even fearing its ability, but it can’t even read the same way as we can. I’ve come to notice that AI tends to just write, but it doesn’t understand the things it gives us. It doesn’t even write at this point, it types or prints out text in a system that makes it comprehensible to us, and it as well.

I gave the first draft of the AI typed out to a few peers to give some critique, and people pointed out the lack of flow. The AI would imply one thing and give another. Sometimes instead of continuing where they left off, they would ramble onto another topic. When giving the AI the ability to do what it wanted, it only turned into a disaster regarding flow or comprehension. The essay would be unreasonably long and would often talk about the same thing over and over again. Something that brought to my attention was that, in the piece, it seemed to imply that the essay would be signposting in each paragraph, but it didn’t. It also had trouble sourcing its quotes, in the screenshot shown, that would be the interaction I would get each time I would ask for page numbers. It would be an awful back and forth of asking and meeting the same dead end. Sometimes, it would give me the wrong page number, or even give me quotes from a different novel.

However, in doing this experiment, I’ve come to realize the value of using AI. Despite its shortcomings, it did write the more grueling, tedious part of the essay. It chose words out of a dictionary and placed them in perfect, well-said sentences. It takes the time out of searching up synonyms for redundant words, and it really saves time. ChatGPT can be used to write essays, as long as the person behind the prompts is able to guide it to write. It can’t read, but we can. It actually helped me understand my topic better. When my sole task is to research and feed it the information it needs, it gives me more time and emphasis to do just that. No more spending time thinking of the best word to use!

Even though people will still use ChatGPT to write last-minute essays, I think it’s important to recognize the program for its ability to make people think. Because when you combine your own authentic intelligence and use artificial intelligence to fill in your gaps, you can come to create something you’re proud of.

Here’s the actual essay!