When generative AI encroached on my classroom two years ago, I instinctively erected barricades to keep it out. It was critical that my students do authentic work, so I had them eschew high-tech supports and write all their drafts and final papers in longhand. Eventually, however, I relented. After two years of pandemic-era learning, my high school and college students had fallen far behind, and multiple new AI platforms and software were promising to bring them back up to speed.
However, neither the high school nor the university where I teach had formal, established guidelines for acceptable student use of AI. (Most institutions don’t, as it turns out.) So, in the absence of official policy, I wrote my own. Here are three rules for using AI in courses that are helping my high school and college students become better writers, better thinkers and more curious about the world.
Rule No. 1: Set Limits on Acceptable AI Use.
I’m in the minority among my high school and college colleagues—many of whom are old school and have a harder time adapting to new technologies—because I allow my students to use AI for their writing assignments, but I establish parameters that I spell out in each course syllabus.
I permit my students to use instructional AI—but not ChatGPT or other apps that humanize text—to help them do research, make suggestions to improve their writing and review their assignments before they submit them. I tell them I use AI to take a first pass at grading their assignments and that I create assessment rubrics with AI in mind. I also disclose that the AI detection software I use must score their writing at 85% human or higher.
My intent isn’t punitive. It’s supportive. I want my students to use instructional AI as a writing assistant if they choose because they’re still learning how to write. I deploy the Packback platform because it provides critical real-time feedback that helps my students improve their writing as they write but doesn’t do the writing for them.
Whatever approach teachers wish to take with AI, their acceptable use policies should be clear, consistent and established ahead of time.
Rule No. 2: When Students Violate AI Rules, Talk to Them.
Instructors sometimes fail their students automatically for violating class rules on assignments. When my students turn in papers with evidence of too much reliance on AI, I talk to them instead. AI detectors are notoriously fallible, so I don’t rely solely on one data point before determining whether a student has run afoul of my AI usage rules. In conversations with my students, I came to realize that they weren’t using generative AI and other online tools like thesauruses to cheat. They were using these apps because they were struggling with their writing and desperately wanted help. By relying too heavily on online tools that changed their writing, their writing voices became inauthentic, sounding less human and more like a bot.
In my one-on-one talks with students after AI violations emerge, we work together to identify excessive plot summary, improper citations, incorrect word choice and other errors that permeate their writing. We recognize where their writing is predictable and formulaic and where their own voice is absent. We then we figure out stronger and more effective means to present their ideas in their own words. I want to remediate my students without demonizing AI. By showing my students the wrong turns they take, I can steer them toward using AI to help their writing, not harm it.
Rule No. 3: Responsible AI Use Is About Education.
The best way for students to improve their writing is by reading. Sadly, today’s students no longer read books like they used to, either for class or for pleasure. In a world without books, it’s tempting for students to automate their writing—I get that. Writing isn’t about checking a box. It’s supposed to be reflective, not performative. I want my students to contemplate how they’re conveying their writing because what they write matters. It pays to be cautious with AI. Generative AI that writes for them robs students of their voices. It discredits their originality and their unique perspective, but AI that coaches students to become better writers can be a powerful tool. It then becomes a teacher’s role to educate students on using AI responsibly.
I want my students to ask questions about AI, so they use it to clarify and amplify their voices. We’re all learning more about AI’s potential and pitfalls as we go. In this way, students and teachers are educating each other. That’s why I teach—to give my students an authentic voice and to help them learn how to use the tools responsibly that can make themselves heard. AI has the potential to fundamentally change how everyone learns and works.
Educators should not be gatekeepers. By creating a classroom environment where students can learn how to use AI effectively and responsibly in their writing, we can provide the best opportunities for their future success.
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