AI is taking over in almost all facets of the world. It’s used to enhance medical research, improve supply chain management, and make manufacturing more productive. However, there have been rising concerns that humans will become overdependent on AI, which could lead to a decline in human creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence. One of the largest discussions that people have had is how it interferes with the writing process. Some individuals argue that relying on AI can negatively impact people’s ability to think critically and experience cognitive decline from over-reliance on the technology. While this can be true in individuals who solely use AI to write their entire piece, AI can be used as a helpful tool. The reality is, AI will not be going away, and should be viewed and used as a tool to help with the writing process.
The biggest part of AI that can help with the writing process is brainstorming. Brainstorming is a huge part of establishing what your topic is going to be about, along with determining the direction you’re going to go with it. This is arguably the most difficult part of the entire writing process. However, with assistance from AI, it can help people better understand what the topic is, and it ultimately speeds up the process of brainstorming. Although taking your time in brainstorming is important, the way in which people consume information now is a lot faster, and therefore, the writing process also has to speed up to meet the need for how people are consuming information.
According to data provided by Firewire, businesses that use AI writing software experienced an average 77% increase in content output volume within six months of implementation. The increase in productivity provides companies with a constant feed of information that can meet the needs of the consumer. Using AI for brainstorming doesn’t take away from people’s creativity, but rather assists in establishing the foundation of one’s writing. This ultimately speeds up the process, therefore meeting the need much quicker.
Another way in which AI helps with the writing process directly is with structure and outline. Along with AI providing assistance with brainstorming, it can be used as a tool to help writers figure out how to structure their writing. Depending on what and how you’re writing, it’s important to know how to outline and structure it so it’s clear and you’re getting your point across. AI can also provide outlines and explain how to structure essays, research papers, and even certain articles like this one. AI can again be used as a tool to help create the foundation of your essay, and has another benefit outside of being able to help with just writing itself.
By speeding up the process of brainstorming and helping to structure and outline, AI can also assist in tailoring the information to those who learn differently. AI has the ability to be accessible for individuals who have learning disabilities and can help by offering specific context-aware material that can be there to support and meet the needs of those individuals. AI can tailor the material to fit the needs of each person, making the material easier to understand. Those individuals can then use AI in multiple ways that improve their ability to learn material.
A study provided by Oxford Academic conducted research on students with various learning disabilities and found that many AI applications supported those with disabilities and could be used to help with learning. It can be used to help with brainstorming, writer’s block, or any aspect within the process in forming a piece of writing. This is a very large part of the writing process; being able to find ways to understand the material makes it easier for those who learn differently.
Although there are many benefits to how we can use AI for writing, it’s important to understand that there is a line between using AI as a tool and using it to do your entire writing for you. That line can only be established if people know that AI can only assist in your writing and can never truly mimic the emotion and experience that come from human writing. The human experience can never truly be duplicated and reflected by AI, and therefore, individuals should only use AI as a tool that can help them with writing, rather than having it write for them.
