Authentic Writing in the Age of AI

Teachers have a new challenge: designing or redesigning our writing pedagogy to account for the existence of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Sure, we can add language to our syllabi that prohibits using AI for writing. We can remind students of the academic honesty policy and threaten them with a zero on assignments. However, I’ve had more success changing some of my writing pedagogy to center practices that naturally lead to more authentic writing.

5 Strategies for Getting authentic writing From Students

Though AI has brought renewed focus to the importance of authentic writing, it has always been the foundation of good writing pedagogy to ensure that students are bringing their own voice and perspective to their writing projects. These are some of the strategies currently working well in my classroom.

1. Writing groups. First, make peer review a normal part of your classroom practice. A robust peer feedback protocol, either as an ongoing practice or as a step for all major process writing, benefits students in many ways and is worth implementing for its own sake.

I’ve used writing groups with my students for years, but I recently discovered that they also serve as a useful deterrent to generative AI. When students know that their writing will be shared with peers, discussed, and constructively critiqued, they will do the drafting themselves. I have yet to see a student try to pass off AI writing as their own to their peers. When I am reviewing a student paper and I see lots of helpful comments from their classmates, I consider that another sign of the authenticity of the writing.

Another benefit of writing group time is that it gives me a chance to see which students do not have a draft ready to share. These are students at higher risk for academic dishonesty in their writing. When a student is struggling with a writing task, they are more likely to try to cheat with generative AI. Students who don’t meet the draft deadline for their writing group need more support and direct intervention asap.

2. Collaborative writing. Writing with a partner is often more intellectually challenging than writing alone. It also provides some built-in supports, and it reflects the way many adults write in the workplace. Almost any kind of academic writing can be done as a team: Essays, short stories, lab reports, editorials, and research papers all work well as collaborative writing projects.

I find that my students write really great scenes with a partner. When my seniors study Hamlet, a scene of two modern characters arguing about the play becomes a proxy for an essay, and my ninth graders write scenes about social media when we study digital literacy. When two students are working together on a piece of writing, they must discuss the content and make decisions together. This makes the writing process more cognitively complex for both of them.

Plus, I get to listen in on those conversations. I usually let students choose their own writing partners. I want them to be comfortable with each other. Sometimes I ask students to draft separately and then synthesize and combine their ideas; other times they draft together from the beginning. The partnership with a peer is motivating in itself, as they enjoy talking about their work together. The turn-in rate is higher, as they feel accountable to each other. And, I’m not going to lie, it’s nice having only half as many papers to grade.

3. Providing choice. I find that students are most likely to use AI when they are not personally invested in the assignment. If they don’t care what the writing says, why make the effort to write it themselves? When students have a choice in their writing topic, they are much more invested in the content of what they produce. Allowing students to write about things they are already passionate about results in better and more authentic writing.

For example, my students pick a topic in the news to follow each year. They select it in the fall and report out on what is happening in their news story multiple times during the year. The topics range from global hard news stories to pop-culture items—my only requirement is that it be something they are interested in. These reports and presentations always have their voice in them, their opinions, and evidence of their research, because they care about the subject.

4. Unique content. My school is lucky enough to have a space we use as an art gallery. In the spring semester our art students display their best works, and I always take my students to see the art show. While we are there, my students choose and then take notes on two pieces of this completely original art, and then they write a short essay comparing them. Even the most up-to-date AI tool has no knowledge of the art created by students at my school. I get to show my students that the concepts of mood, symbolism, and theme cross over from literature to art, while giving them an authentic subject to write about.

5. Editing AI. My latest idea for promoting authentic writing is to give students an AI written draft of the assignment, require them to change at least 50 percent of it, and have them add evidence from course readings. I also required them to add at least five comments to explain what they changed and why. This assignment was really successful. My students experienced a different kind of writing process, wrestled productively with what to keep and what to change, and developed a deep appreciation for exactly how bad AI-generated text can be.

By making writing groups, peer collaboration, choice, and unique content a regular part of our writing curriculum, I’ve been able to ensure that my students do more authentic writing projects and reduce the chances that they will consider turning in AI-generated text. Having students start from an AI-generated draft was an act of desperation to prevent last-minute cheating at the end of the semester, but it turned out even better than expected. These strategies are gently nudging my students into authentic writing practices while helping them grow their writing skills, so that they will be even less tempted to try to turn in generative AI written work as their own.