Some scholars have continually expressed reservations on the use of Artificial Intelligence in writing assignments. However, there is so much good that students can get from AI essay writing, provided they understand its limitations. Apart from making the entire writing process easier, using AI can also elevate your research and writing skills.
The following article covers how to use Artificial Intelligence tools for essays and, discusses the key strategies for improving your AI essay writing. We explain how AI can help writers to craft good essays without doing the work for them.
What is AI Essay Writing?
AI essay writing is the use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT or Grammarly in the process of creative fiction or non-fiction writing. It refers to using those tools to perform functions such as brainstorming, research, revisions and character development. However, it should be noted that although AI can write a complete story, passing the content off as your own contributes to plagiarism.
Using AI to Tell Stories
The concept of AI essay writing comes from the idea of having AI do the work of a writer on their behalf. While using AI text is a common practice that is also effective in writing articles, it is not the same when writing fiction content.
Remember it is unethical and even potentially illegal to copy an AI generated text and claim that you wrote it. However, AI essay writing is a bit dull on a pragmatic level. The technology of storytelling is still in its infancy and not developed properly to match the creativity and expertise of seasoned human authors. Besides, Artificial Intelligence uses existing ideas that may not pass the test of originality.
Nonetheless, AI remains as a great aid for essay writing and storytelling. The trick is to use it for individual minor tasks that the writer has difficulties with, instead of using it to write the entire content from start to completion. The goal is to find a proper balance between creative integrity and AI assistance.
How to Enhance Writing with AI Prompts
Understanding AI writing prompts is critical to using the technology in essay writing. The prompts are the commands that users type into the text window to explain the tasks that they need AI to perform. An AI writing prompt can be a simple statement like;
‘’Write an essay about romance in Hamlet’’
Although the above prompt can still generate an essay, you should mention every detail and set precise parameters such as the tone and length of the essay to get the best results. See the example below.
‘’Write a six-paragraph essay about the romance between Ophelia and Hamlet in Hamlet. The tone should be formal for an academic paper and, emphasize on the tragedy that befell Ophelia.’’
It is also important to keep in mind that all your instructions should fit into the same text window. That is because AI usually tends to treat every message as a separate session.
There are five key ways of using AI essay writing including;
- Brainstorming and idea generation
- Outlines and structure
- Character creation and development
- Language and phrasing
- Revisions and proofreading
Brainstorming and idea generation
Artificial Intelligence can help you to brainstorm and generate ideas for your essay in case you are feeling uninspired. It is not recommended to ask AI to create ideas from scratch. Instead, you should guide it to the direction where you intend to go. In simpler terms, give it topics, themes or half-baked ideas to point it in the right direction.
Here’s an example of an AI writing prompt for brainstorming.
‘’Give me 3 potential angles for a historical fiction novel about Harriet Tubman.’’
Structure and outlines
You can also use AI’s vast knowledge to develop the plot for your essay. AI generative tools can conceive complex plots then; you can add your own style to the points during the writing process. You could also have the AI to review your original plot for any logical errors or inconsistencies. Check out the following example of AI essay writing prompt for plot structure.
‘’Write a plot summary for a fictional story about the murder of a popular politician. Describe the sequence of events for the murder and for the detectives solving the murder.’’
Character creation and development
Developing characters before writing them is a great step towards creating realistic and consistent personalities. Although some characters do come naturally, others can be a bit challenging to develop. Maybe you are writing an essay with several personalities but, lack the ability to develop all of them.
AI can provide ideas to get you through such difficulties. The development of characters is a common task for AI essay writing and they know how handle it effectively. It will generate descriptions of the appearances, skills, motivations, fears and backstory for the characters, offering a good starting point for developing the characters.
You could even ask the AI to provide examples of how to represent the character in writing through actions and dialogues. However, you should be careful not to copy AI verbatim.
Here’s an example of an AI essay writing prompt for character development;
‘’Write an elaborate character description for a reformed alcoholic who becomes a pastor and, then later on start to hunt down rapists.’’
Language and paraphrasing
Artificial Intelligence is not usually well-trained to write longer stories without errors. So, you should organize your points or sample texts into smaller passages. However, you can ask AI to rewrite a passage in your chosen style in case a given sentence, phrase or paragraph doesn’t come out as intended. Remember to rewrite the AI generated rewrite in your own words but, the tool can still suggest alternative words and phrases to get you closer to your goals. Here’s an example of how to use AI in rewriting passages.
‘’Rewrite the sentence ‘’you look pretty’’ with a more seductive and romantic feel’’
Revisions and proofreading
AI essay writing can also be quite useful in revising and proofreading your content. AI can polish your work by rewriting complex sentences, provided that you specify the particular aspects that you need to be changed in the prompt.
AI can also identify grammatical errors and spelling mistakes quickly. However, some AI iterations can still make mistakes, especially language errors. In such cases, a professional essay writer can be your best bet. Academiascholars has the best writers in the industry to do all your essays, research papers and dissertations on demand.
Overall, AI essay writing is a great way to reduce the workload and sharpen your skills in crafting academic papers. However, students should only use AI as an assistant instead of letting it replace them in classwork.
