I Am Not A Robot

AI & Writing Center Praxis

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Joe Essid, Writing Center Director

Cady Cummins, Writing Consultant

�University of Richmond

Who UR Is:

Demographics & Curriculum

• Student body ~ 3200 undergrads
• Writing-intensive courses under new curriculum
• Scope of Center’s involvement.

What is Generative AI?

A Visual Example

UR’s Honor Code & AI Policy (Cady)

• Violations include “unauthorized use of an electronic resource beyond the use expressly permitted by the professor or other responsible authority”�
• Provost’s policy for faculty: individual choice on this, but faculty must have a policy statement in their syllabi.

Our Concerns / Hopes (J&C)

• Worry that Honor-Code policy might lead to false accusations
• Concern about the future of writing with students using AI
• Maintain our status as what Caswell, McKinney, and Jackson (2016) call a de-facto role as “the writing experts” on campus
• Leverage our history with other emerging tech (synchronous conferencing software in the 90s, Web-site development, digital video)
• Remember first seeing Netscape in 1993 and feeling the Earth move.

Student Usage (Cady)

Of 77 of 111 respondents (69.4% of total)

used ChatGPT 3.5 in some manner:�

• 19 respondents who have used AI have used it to generate an entire draft “as a model for my own writing”
• 6 respondents have used it “to generate a draft I would submit.”

Attitudes about AI &

The Honor Code

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Ethical Confusion Emerges

Of 61 respondents who offered optional comments about the Honor Code and AI:

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• 40 (66%) respondents stated that using AI text without modifying it would constitute cheating, or “the equivalent of copying someone else’s work” as one respondent noted; another said that “this is the same as having another student write for you.”
• 13 argued that AI did not violate the Honor Code, comparing it to calculators in mathematics classes or noting that using it now prepares students to work in careers later that will include AI.
• 8 were unsure or discussed other aspects of using AI for homework, beyond writing drafts.

Nuances of AI Use

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�I’m unsure about how I feel. . . .when I used it for academic purposes, it was somewhat of a launching off point, but not a means to an end. If someone were copy-pasting entire essays from the AI, they’d deserve to face consequences because it’s just a dumb decision. I think it can be a useful tool, but only when it’s utilized secondary to your own ideas.

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–Student Respondent

Question Raised for Future Study (Joe)

We were vague on purpose about what a “model” might mean!

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Our Campus Plan (J&C)

• For now: Ask each writer about AI policy in a course
• Consultants cannot initiate AI but if a writer does, we will engage in the session.�
• Moving forward: Acknowledge parental demands
• Seek permission to use Grammarly (w/o AI) in sessions
• Use AI in part to spur metacognition
• Use AI to assist ELL and neurodiverse writers with planning and organization.

Advice for Writing Instructors

• Making assignments in ways that make it harder to plagiarize with AI.�
• Allowing students to use AI for planning or early drafts, with reflective pieces attached?�
• Being nimble: we cannot predict how AI will evolve. �
• Being realistic: We can predict gen AI will be integral to all our tools.

Other Questions for Us All

1. How much transfer of skills occurs after working with generative AI?�
2. Are less affluent students settling for second-class AI? �100 queries/month for free Grammarly; 1000/month for $20/month�
3. How does generative AI help neurodiverse and English-language learners with planning and structuring academic writing?�
4. How do we use our status as “campus writing experts” to influence policy on gen AI?

Three Human Affordances at Writing Centers

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• Metacognitive questioning
• Active listening (a real conversation)
• Coaching on fair use: for now…but for Chat GPT4?

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Students Already Know The Future

�“Work smarter, not harder. AI will not replace humans, but those who don't know [how]�to utilize it will be replaced.”

“Students should be encouraged to use it because in the future their work

may even require its use…”

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“Hell these affluent students get exclusive help all the time, why

can’t it be more accessible?”�

–Survey Respondents

Our Contact Information for Further Questions

• Slides @ joeessid.net → presentations�
• Joe Essid → jessid@richmond.edu�
• Cady Cummins�→catherine.cummins@richmond.edu

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