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Should I Use ChatGPT to Write My Essays?

Everything high school and college students need to know about using — and not using — ChatGPT for writing essays.

Jessica A. Kent

ChatGPT is one of the most buzzworthy technologies today.

In addition to other generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, it is expected to change the world. In academia, students and professors are preparing for the ways that ChatGPT will shape education, and especially how it will impact a fundamental element of any course: the academic essay.

Students can use ChatGPT to generate full essays based on a few simple prompts. But can AI actually produce high quality work, or is the technology just not there yet to deliver on its promise? Students may also be asking themselves if they should use AI to write their essays for them and what they might be losing out on if they did.

AI is here to stay, and it can either be a help or a hindrance depending on how you use it. Read on to become better informed about what ChatGPT can and can’t do, how to use it responsibly to support your academic assignments, and the benefits of writing your own essays.

What is Generative AI?

Artificial intelligence isn’t a twenty-first century invention. Beginning in the 1950s, data scientists started programming computers to solve problems and understand spoken language. AI’s capabilities grew as computer speeds increased and today we use AI for data analysis, finding patterns, and providing insights on the data it collects.

But why the sudden popularity in recent applications like ChatGPT? This new generation of AI goes further than just data analysis. Instead, generative AI creates new content. It does this by analyzing large amounts of data — GPT-3 was trained on 45 terabytes of data, or a quarter of the Library of Congress — and then generating new content based on the patterns it sees in the original data.

It’s like the predictive text feature on your phone; as you start typing a new message, predictive text makes suggestions of what should come next based on data from past conversations. Similarly, ChatGPT creates new text based on past data. With the right prompts, ChatGPT can write marketing content, code, business forecasts, and even entire academic essays on any subject within seconds.

But is generative AI as revolutionary as people think it is, or is it lacking in real intelligence?

The Drawbacks of Generative AI

It seems simple. You’ve been assigned an essay to write for class. You go to ChatGPT and ask it to write a five-paragraph academic essay on the topic you’ve been assigned. You wait a few seconds and it generates the essay for you!

But ChatGPT is still in its early stages of development, and that essay is likely not as accurate or well-written as you’d expect it to be. Be aware of the drawbacks of having ChatGPT complete your assignments.

It’s not intelligence, it’s statistics

One of the misconceptions about AI is that it has a degree of human intelligence. However, its intelligence is actually statistical analysis, as it can only generate “original” content based on the patterns it sees in already existing data and work.

It “hallucinates”

Generative AI models often provide false information — so much so that there’s a term for it: “AI hallucination.” OpenAI even has a warning on its home screen , saying that “ChatGPT may produce inaccurate information about people, places, or facts.” This may be due to gaps in its data, or because it lacks the ability to verify what it’s generating. 

It doesn’t do research  

If you ask ChatGPT to find and cite sources for you, it will do so, but they could be inaccurate or even made up.

This is because AI doesn’t know how to look for relevant research that can be applied to your thesis. Instead, it generates content based on past content, so if a number of papers cite certain sources, it will generate new content that sounds like it’s a credible source — except it likely may not be.

There are data privacy concerns

When you input your data into a public generative AI model like ChatGPT, where does that data go and who has access to it? 

Prompting ChatGPT with original research should be a cause for concern — especially if you’re inputting study participants’ personal information into the third-party, public application. 

JPMorgan has restricted use of ChatGPT due to privacy concerns, Italy temporarily blocked ChatGPT in March 2023 after a data breach, and Security Intelligence advises that “if [a user’s] notes include sensitive data … it enters the chatbot library. The user no longer has control over the information.”

It is important to be aware of these issues and take steps to ensure that you’re using the technology responsibly and ethically. 

It skirts the plagiarism issue

AI creates content by drawing on a large library of information that’s already been created, but is it plagiarizing? Could there be instances where ChatGPT “borrows” from previous work and places it into your work without citing it? Schools and universities today are wrestling with this question of what’s plagiarism and what’s not when it comes to AI-generated work.

To demonstrate this, one Elon University professor gave his class an assignment: Ask ChatGPT to write an essay for you, and then grade it yourself. 

“Many students expressed shock and dismay upon learning the AI could fabricate bogus information,” he writes, adding that he expected some essays to contain errors, but all of them did. 

His students were disappointed that “major tech companies had pushed out AI technology without ensuring that the general population understands its drawbacks” and were concerned about how many embraced such a flawed tool.

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How to Use AI as a Tool to Support Your Work

As more students are discovering, generative AI models like ChatGPT just aren’t as advanced or intelligent as they may believe. While AI may be a poor option for writing your essay, it can be a great tool to support your work.

Generate ideas for essays

Have ChatGPT help you come up with ideas for essays. For example, input specific prompts, such as, “Please give me five ideas for essays I can write on topics related to WWII,” or “Please give me five ideas for essays I can write comparing characters in twentieth century novels.” Then, use what it provides as a starting point for your original research.

Generate outlines

You can also use ChatGPT to help you create an outline for an essay. Ask it, “Can you create an outline for a five paragraph essay based on the following topic” and it will create an outline with an introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, and a suggested thesis statement. Then, you can expand upon the outline with your own research and original thought.

Generate titles for your essays

Titles should draw a reader into your essay, yet they’re often hard to get right. Have ChatGPT help you by prompting it with, “Can you suggest five titles that would be good for a college essay about [topic]?”

The Benefits of Writing Your Essays Yourself

Asking a robot to write your essays for you may seem like an easy way to get ahead in your studies or save some time on assignments. But, outsourcing your work to ChatGPT can negatively impact not just your grades, but your ability to communicate and think critically as well. It’s always the best approach to write your essays yourself.

Create your own ideas

Writing an essay yourself means that you’re developing your own thoughts, opinions, and questions about the subject matter, then testing, proving, and defending those thoughts. 

When you complete school and start your career, projects aren’t simply about getting a good grade or checking a box, but can instead affect the company you’re working for — or even impact society. Being able to think for yourself is necessary to create change and not just cross work off your to-do list.

Building a foundation of original thinking and ideas now will help you carve your unique career path in the future.

Develop your critical thinking and analysis skills

In order to test or examine your opinions or questions about a subject matter, you need to analyze a problem or text, and then use your critical thinking skills to determine the argument you want to make to support your thesis. Critical thinking and analysis skills aren’t just necessary in school — they’re skills you’ll apply throughout your career and your life.

Improve your research skills

Writing your own essays will train you in how to conduct research, including where to find sources, how to determine if they’re credible, and their relevance in supporting or refuting your argument. Knowing how to do research is another key skill required throughout a wide variety of professional fields.

Learn to be a great communicator

Writing an essay involves communicating an idea clearly to your audience, structuring an argument that a reader can follow, and making a conclusion that challenges them to think differently about a subject. Effective and clear communication is necessary in every industry.

Be impacted by what you’re learning about : 

Engaging with the topic, conducting your own research, and developing original arguments allows you to really learn about a subject you may not have encountered before. Maybe a simple essay assignment around a work of literature, historical time period, or scientific study will spark a passion that can lead you to a new major or career.

Resources to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills

While there are many rewards to writing your essays yourself, the act of writing an essay can still be challenging, and the process may come easier for some students than others. But essay writing is a skill that you can hone, and students at Harvard Summer School have access to a number of on-campus and online resources to assist them.

Students can start with the Harvard Summer School Writing Center , where writing tutors can offer you help and guidance on any writing assignment in one-on-one meetings. Tutors can help you strengthen your argument, clarify your ideas, improve the essay’s structure, and lead you through revisions. 

The Harvard libraries are a great place to conduct your research, and its librarians can help you define your essay topic, plan and execute a research strategy, and locate sources. 

Finally, review the “ The Harvard Guide to Using Sources ,” which can guide you on what to cite in your essay and how to do it. Be sure to review the “Tips For Avoiding Plagiarism” on the “ Resources to Support Academic Integrity ” webpage as well to help ensure your success.

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The Future of AI in the Classroom

ChatGPT and other generative AI models are here to stay, so it’s worthwhile to learn how you can leverage the technology responsibly and wisely so that it can be a tool to support your academic pursuits. However, nothing can replace the experience and achievement gained from communicating your own ideas and research in your own academic essays.

About the Author

Jessica A. Kent is a freelance writer based in Boston, Mass. and a Harvard Extension School alum. Her digital marketing content has been featured on Fast Company, Forbes, Nasdaq, and other industry websites; her essays and short stories have been featured in North American Review, Emerson Review, Writer’s Bone, and others.

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College Admissions , College Essays

ChatGPT has become a popular topic of conversation since its official launch in November 2022. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot can be used for all sorts of things, like having conversations, answering questions, and even crafting complete pieces of writing.

If you’re applying for college, you might be wondering about ChatGPT college admissions’ potential.  Should you use a ChatGPT college essay in your application ?

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll know much more about ChatGPT, including how students can use it responsibly and if it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT on college essays . We’ll answer all your questions, like:

• What is ChatGPT and why are schools talking about it?
• What are the good and bad aspects of ChatGPT?
• Should you use ChatGPT for college essays and applications?
• Can colleges detect ChatGPT?
• Are there other tools and strategies that students can use, instead?

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Schools and colleges are worried about how new AI technology affects how students learn. (Don't worry. Robots aren't replacing your teachers...yet.)

What Is ChatGPT and Why Are Schools Talking About It?

ChatGPT (short for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) is a chatbot created by OpenAI , an artificial intelligence research company. ChatGPT can be used for various tasks, like having human-like conversations, answering questions, giving recommendations, translating words and phrases—and writing things like essays. 

In order to do this, ChatGPT uses a neural network that’s been trained on thousands of resources to predict relationships between words. When you give ChatGPT a task, it uses that knowledge base to interpret your input or query. It then analyzes its data banks to predict the combinations of words that will best answer your question. 

So while ChatGPT might seem like it’s thinking, it’s actually pulling information from hundreds of thousands of resources , then answering your questions by looking for patterns in that data and predicting which words come next.  

Why Schools Are Concerned About ChatGPT

Unsurprisingly, schools are worried about ChatGPT and its misuse, especially in terms of academic dishonesty and plagiarism . Most schools, including colleges, require students’ work to be 100% their own. That’s because taking someone else’s ideas and passing them off as your own is stealing someone else’s intellectual property and misrepresenting your skills. 

The problem with ChatGPT from schools’ perspective is that it does the writing and research for you, then gives you the final product. In other words, you’re not doing the work it takes to complete an assignment when you’re using ChatGPT , which falls under schools’ plagiarism and dishonesty policies.  

Colleges are also concerned with how ChatGPT will negatively affect students’ critical thinking, research, and writing skills . Essays and other writing assignments are used to measure students’ mastery of the material, and if students submit ChatGPT college essays, teachers will just be giving feedback on an AI’s writing…which doesn’t help the student learn and grow. 

Beyond that, knowing how to write well is an important skill people need to be successful throughout life. Schools believe that if students rely on ChatGPT to write their essays, they’re doing more than just plagiarizing—they’re impacting their ability to succeed in their future careers. 

Many Schools Have Already Banned ChatGPT

Schools have responded surprisingly quickly to AI use, including ChatGPT. Worries about academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and mis/disinformation have led many high schools and colleges to ban the use of ChatGPT . Some schools have begun using AI-detection software for assignment submissions, and some have gone so far as to block students from using ChatGPT on their internet networks. 

It’s likely that schools will begin revising their academic honesty and plagiarism policies to address the use of AI tools like ChatGPT. You’ll want to stay up-to-date with your schools’ policies. 

ChatGPT is pretty amazing...but it's not a great tool for writing college essays. Here's why.

ChatGPT: College Admissions and Entrance Essays

College admissions essays—also called personal statements—ask students to explore important events, experiences, and ideas from their lives. A great entrance essay will explain what makes you you !  

ChatGPT is a machine that doesn’t know and can’t understand your experiences. That means using ChatGPT to write your admissions essays isn’t just unethical. It actually puts you at a disadvantage because ChatGPT can’t adequately showcase what it means to be you. 

Let’s take a look at four ways ChatGPT negatively impacts college admissions essays.

#1: ChatGPT Lacks Insight

We recommend students use u nexpected or slightly unusual topics because they help admissions committees learn more about you and what makes you unique. The chat bot doesn’t know any of that, so nothing ChatGPT writes can’t accurately reflect your experience, passions, or goals for the future. 

Because ChatGPT will make guesses about who you are, it won’t be able to share what makes you unique in a way that resonates with readers. And since that’s what admissions counselors care about, a ChatGPT college essay could negatively impact an otherwise strong application.  

#2: ChatGPT Might Plagiarize 

Writing about experiences that many other people have had isn’t a very strong approach to take for entrance essays . After all, you don’t want to blend in—you want to stand out! 

If you write your essay yourself and include key details about your past experiences and future goals, there’s little risk that you’ll write the same essay as someone else. But if you use ChatGPT—who’s to say someone else won’t, too? Since ChatGPT uses predictive guesses to write essays, there’s a good chance the text it uses in your essay already appeared in someone else’s.  

Additionally, ChatGPT learns from every single interaction it has. So even if your essay isn’t plagiarized, it’s now in the system. That means the next person who uses ChatGPT to write their essay may end up with yours. You’ll still be on the hook for submitting a ChatGPT college essay, and someone else will be in trouble, too.

#3: ChatGPT Doesn’t Understand Emotion 

Keep in mind that ChatGPT can’t experience or imitate emotions, and so its writing samples lack, well, a human touch ! 

A great entrance essay will explore experiences or topics you’re genuinely excited about or proud of . This is your chance to show your chosen schools what you’ve accomplished and how you’ll continue growing and learning, and an essay without emotion would be odd considering that these should be real, lived experiences and passions you have!

#4: ChatGPT Produced Mediocre Results

If you’re still curious what would happen if you submitted a ChatGPT college essay with your application, you’re in luck. Both Business Insider and Forbes asked ChatGPT to write a couple of college entrance essays, and then they sent them to college admissions readers to get their thoughts. 

The readers agreed that the essays would probably pass as being written by real students—assuming admissions committees didn’t use AI detection software—but that they both were about what a “very mediocre, perhaps even a middle school, student would produce.” The admissions professionals agreed that the essays probably wouldn’t perform very well with entrance committees, especially at more selective schools.  

That’s not exactly the reaction you want when an admission committee reads your application materials! So, when it comes to ChatGPT college admissions, it’s best to steer clear and write your admission materials by yourself. 

Can Colleges Detect ChatGPT?

We’ve already explained why it’s not a great idea to use ChatGPT to write your college essays and applications , but you may still be wondering: can colleges detect ChatGPT? 

In short, yes, they can! 

Software Can Detect ChatGPT

As technology improves and increases the risk of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and mis/disinformation, software that can detect such technology is improving, too. For instance, OpenAI, the same company that built ChatGPT, is working on a text classifier that can tell the difference between AI-written text and human-written text .  

Turnitin, one of the most popular plagiarism detectors used by high schools and universities, also recently developed the AI Innovation Lab —a detection software designed to flag submissions that have used AI tools like ChatGPT. Turnitin says that this tool works with 98% confidence in detecting AI writing. 

Plagiarism and AI companies aren’t the only ones interested in AI-detection software. A 22-year old computer science student at Princeton created an app to detect ChatGPT writing, called Zero GPT. This software works by measuring the complexity of ideas and variety of sentence structures.  

Human Readers Can Detect ChatGPT 

It’s also worth keeping in mind that teachers can spot the use of ChatGPT themselves , even if it isn’t confirmed by a software detector. For example, if you’ve turned in one or two essays to your teacher already, they’re probably familiar with your unique writing style. If you submit a college essay draft essay that uses totally different vocabulary, sentence structures, and figures of speech, your teacher will likely take note.

Additionally , admissions committees and readers may be able to spot ChatGPT writing, too. ChatGPT (and AI writing, in general) uses more simplistic sentence structures with less variation, so that could make it easier to tell if you’ve submitted a ChatGPT college essay. These professionals also read thousands of essays every year, which means they know what a typical essay reads like. You want your college essay to catch their attention…but not because you used AI software! 

If you use ChatGPT responsibly, you can be as happy as these kids.

Pros and Cons of ChatGPT: College Admissions Edition

ChatGPT is a brand new technology, which means we’re still learning about the ways it can benefit us. It’s important to think about the pros and the cons to any new tool …and that includes artificial intelligence!

Let’s look at some of the good—and not-so-good—aspects of ChatGPT below. 

ChatGPT: The Good

It may seem like we’re focused on just the negatives of using ChatGPT in this article, but we’re willing to admit that the chatbot isn’t all bad. In fact, it can be a very useful tool for learning if used responsibly !

Like we already mentioned, students shouldn’t use ChatGPT to write entire essays or assignments. They can use it, though, as a learning tool alongside their own critical thinking and writing skills.

Students can use ChatGPT responsibly to:

• Learn more about a topic . It’s a great place to get started for general knowledge and ideas about most subjects.
• Find reputable and relevant sources on a topic. Students can ask ChatGPT for names and information about leading scholars, relevant websites and databases, and more. 
• Brainstorm ideas for assignments. Students can share the ideas they already have with ChatGPT, and in return, the chatbot can suggest ideas for further exploration and even organization of their points.
• Check work (that they’ve written themselves!) for errors or cla rity. This is similar to how spell- and grammar-checking software is used. ChatGPT may be even better than some competitors for this, because students can actually ask ChatGPT to explain the errors and their solutions—not just to fix them. 

Before you use ChatGPT—even for the tasks mentioned above—you should talk to your teacher or school about their AI and academic dishonesty policies. It’s also a good idea to include an acknowledgement that you used ChatGPT with an explanation of its use. 

This guy made some bad decisions using ChatGPT. Don't be this guy.

ChatGPT: The Bad

The first model of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5) was formally introduced to the public in November 2022, and the newer model (GPT-4) in March 2023. So, it’s still very new and there’s a lot of room for improvement .  

There are many misconceptions about ChatGPT. One of the most extreme is that the AI is all-knowing and can make its own decisions. Another is that ChatGPT is a search engine that, when asked a question, can just surf the web for timely, relevant resources and give you all of that information. Both of these beliefs are incorrect because ChatGPT is limited to the information it’s been given by OpenAI . 

Remember how the ‘PT’ in ChatGPT stands for “Pre-trained”? That means that every time OpenAI gives ChatGPT an update, it’s given more information to work with (and so it has more information to share with you). In other words, it’s “trained” on information so it can give you the most accurate and relevant responses possible—but that information can be limited and biased . Ultimately, humans at OpenAI decide what pieces of information to share with ChatGPT, so it’s only as accurate and reliable as the sources it has access to.

For example, if you were to ask ChatGPT-3.5 what notable headlines made the news last week, it would respond that it doesn’t have access to that information because its most recent update was in September 2021!

You’re probably already familiar with how easy it can be to come across misinformation, misleading and untrue information on the internet. Since ChatGPT can’t tell the difference between what is true and what isn’t, it’s up to the humans at OpenAI to make sure only accurate and true information is given to the chatbot . This leaves room for human error , and users of ChatGPT have to keep that in mind when using and learning from the chatbot.

These are just the most obvious problems with ChatGPT. Some other problems with the chatbot include:

• A lack of common sense. ChatGPT can create seemingly sensical responses to many questions and topics, but it doesn’t have common sense or complete background knowledge.
• A lack of empathy. ChatGPT doesn’t have emotions, so it can’t understand them, either. 
• An inability to make decisions or problem solve . While the chatbot can complete basic tasks like answering questions or giving recommendations, it can’t solve complex tasks. 

While there are some great uses for ChatGPT, it’s certainly not without its flaws.

Our bootcamp can help you put together amazing college essays that help you get into your dream schools—no AI necessary.

What Other Tools and Strategies Can Help Students Besides ChatGPT?

While it’s not a good idea to use ChatGPT for college admissions materials, it’s not the only tool available to help students with college essays and assignments.

One of the best strategies students can use to write good essays is to make sure they give themselves plenty of time for the assignment. The writing process includes much more than just drafting! Having time to brainstorm ideas, write out a draft, revise it for clarity and completeness, and polish it makes for a much stronger essay. 

Teachers are another great resource students can use, especially for college application essays. Asking a teacher (or two!) for feedback can really help students improve the focus, clarity, and correctness of an essay. It’s also a more interactive way to learn—being able to sit down with a teacher to talk about their feedback can be much more engaging than using other tools.

Using expert resources during the essay writing process can make a big difference, too. Our article outlines a complete list of strategies for students writing college admission essays. It breaks down what the Common Application essay is, gives tips for choosing the best essay topic, offers strategies for staying focused and being specific, and more.

You can also get help from people who know the college admissions process best, like former admissions counselors. PrepScholar’s Admissions Bootcamp guides you through the entire application process , and you’ll get insider tips and tricks from real-life admissions counselors that’ll make your applications stand out. Even better, our bootcamp includes step-by-step essay writing guidance, so you can get the help you need to make sure your essay is perfect.

If you’re hoping for more technological help, Grammarly is another AI tool that can check writing for correctness. It can correct things like misused and misspelled words and grammar mistakes, and it can improve your tone and style. 

It’s also widely available across multiple platforms through a Windows desktop app, an Android and iOS app, and a Google Chrome extension. And since Grammarly just checks your writing without doing any of the work for you, it’s totally safe to use on your college essays. 

The Bottom Line: ChatGPT College Admissions and Essays

ChatGPT will continue to be a popular discussion topic as it continues evolving. You can expect your chosen schools to address ChatGPT and other AI tools in their academic honesty and plagiarism policies in the near future—and maybe even to restrict or ban the use of the chatbot for school admissions and assignments.

As AI continues transforming, so will AI-detection. The goal is to make sure that AI is used responsibly by students so that they’re avoiding plagiarism and building their research, writing, and critical thinking skills. There are some great uses for ChatGPT when used responsibly, but you should always check with your teachers and schools beforehand.

ChatGPT’s “bad” aspects still need improving, and that’s going to take some time.Be aware that the chatbot isn’t even close to perfect, and it needs to be fact-checked just like other sources of information.

Similarly to other school assignments, don’t submit a ChatGPT college essay for college applications, either. College entrance essays should outline unique and interesting personal experiences and ideas, and those can only come from you.  

Just because ChatGPT isn’t a good idea doesn’t mean there aren’t resources to help you put together a great college essay. There are many other tools and strategies you can use instead of ChatGPT , many of which have been around for longer and offer better feedback. 

What’s Next?

Ready to write your college essays the old-fashioned way? Start here with our comprehensive guide to the admissions essays.  

Most students have to submit essays as part of their Common Application . Here's a complete breakdown of the Common App prompts —and how to answer them.

The most common type of essay answers the "why this college?" prompt. We've got an expert breakdown that shows you how to write a killer response , step by step. 

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Can ChatGPT get into Harvard? We tested its admissions essay.

ChatGPT’s release a year ago triggered a wave of panic among educators. Now, universities are in the midst of college application season, concerned that students might use the artificial intelligence tool to forge admissions essays.

But is a chatbot-created essay good enough to fool college admissions counselors?

To find out, The Washington Post asked a prompt engineer — an expert at directing AI chatbots — to create college essays using ChatGPT. The chatbot produced two essays: one responding to a question from the Common Application, which thousands of colleges use for admissions, and one answering a prompt used solely for applicants to Harvard University.

We presented these essays to a former Ivy League college admissions counselor, Adam Nguyen, who previously advised students at Harvard University and read admissions essays at Columbia University. We presented Nguyen with a control: a set of real college admissions essays penned by Jasmine Green, a Post intern who used them to get into Harvard University, where she is currently a senior.

We asked Nguyen to read the essays and spot which ones were produced by AI. The results were illuminating.

Can you figure out which one was written by a human?

Who wrote this?

Since kindergarten, I have evaluated myself from the reflection of my teachers. I was the clever, gifted child. I was a pleasure to have in class. I was driven and tenacious - but lazy? Unmotivated? No instructor had ever directed those harsh words at me. My identity as a stellar student had been stripped of its luster; I was destroyed.

Computer science and college admissions experts say that AI-created essays have some easy tells — helpful for admissions officers who are prepping for an uptick in ChatGPT-written essays.

Responses written by ChatGPT often lack specific details, leading to essays that lack supporting evidence for their points. The writing is trite and uses platitudes to explain situations, rather than delving into the emotional experience of the author. The essays are often repetitive and predictable, leaving readers without surprise or a sense of the writer’s journey. If chatbots produce content on issues of race, sex or socioeconomic status, they often employ stereotypes.

At first, Nguyen was impressed by the AI-generated essays: They were readable and mostly free of grammatical errors. But if he was reviewing the essay as part of an application package, he would’ve stopped reading.

“The essay is such a mediocre essay that it would not help the candidate’s application or chances,” he said in an interview. “In fact, it would probably diminish it.”

Here is how Nguyen evaluated ChatGPT’s essay.

Nguyen said that while AI may be sufficient to use for everyday writing, it is particularly unhelpful in creating college admissions essays. To start, he said, admissions offices are using AI screening tools to filter out computer-generated essays. (This technology can be inaccurate and falsely implicate students, a Post analysis found .)

But more importantly, admissions essays are a unique type of writing, he said. They require students to reflect on their life and craft their experiences into a compelling narrative that quickly provides college admissions counselors with a sense of why that person is unique.

“ChatGPT is not there,” he said.

Nguyen understands why AI might be appealing. College application deadlines often fall around the busiest time of the year, near winter holidays and end-of-semester exams. “Students are overwhelmed,” Nguyen said.

But Nguyen isn’t entirely opposed to using AI in the application process. In his current business, Ivy Link, he helps students craft college applications. For those who are weak in writing, he sometimes suggests they use AI chatbots to start the brainstorming process, he said.

For those who can’t resist the urge to use AI for more than just inspiration, there may be consequences.

“Their essays will be terrible,” he said, “and might not even reflect who they are.”

About this story

Jasmine Green contributed to this report.

The Washington Post worked with Benjamin Breen, an associate professor of history at the University of California in Santa Cruz who studies the impact of technological change, to create the AI-generated essays.

Editing by Karly Domb Sadof, Betty Chavarria and Alexis Sobel Fitts.

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How ChatGPT (and other AI chatbots) can help you write an essay

ChatGPT  is capable of doing many different things very well, with one of the biggest standout features being its ability to compose all sorts of text within seconds, including songs, poems, bedtime stories, and essays . 

The chatbot's writing abilities are not only fun to experiment with, but can help provide assistance with everyday tasks. Whether you are a student, a working professional, or just getting stuff done, we constantly take time out of our day to compose emails, texts, posts, and more. ChatGPT can help you claim some of that time back by helping you brainstorm and then compose any text you need. 

How to use ChatGPT to write: Code | Excel formulas | Resumes  | Cover letters  

Contrary to popular belief, ChatGPT can do much more than just write an essay for you from scratch (which would be considered plagiarism). A more useful way to use the chatbot is to have it guide your writing process. 

Below, we show you how to use ChatGPT to do both the writing and assisting, as well as some other helpful writing tips. 

How ChatGPT can help you write an essay

If you are looking to use ChatGPT to support or replace your writing, here are five different techniques to explore. 

It is also worth noting before you get started that other AI chatbots can output the same results as ChatGPT or are even better, depending on your needs.

Also: The best AI chatbots of 2024: ChatGPT and alternatives

For example,  Copilot  has access to the internet, and as a result, it can source its answers from recent information and current events. Copilot also includes footnotes linking back to the original source for all of its responses, making the chatbot a more valuable tool if you're writing a paper on a more recent event, or if you want to verify your sources.

Regardless of which AI chatbot you pick, you can use the tips below to get the most out of your prompts and from AI assistance.

1. Use ChatGPT to generate essay ideas

Before you can even get started writing an essay, you need to flesh out the idea. When professors assign essays, they generally give students a prompt that gives them leeway for their own self-expression and analysis. 

As a result, students have the task of finding the angle to approach the essay on their own. If you have written an essay recently, you know that finding the angle is often the trickiest part -- and this is where ChatGPT can help. 

Also: ChatGPT vs. Copilot: Which AI chatbot is better for you?

All you need to do is input the assignment topic, include as much detail as you'd like -- such as what you're thinking about covering -- and let ChatGPT do the rest. For example, based on a paper prompt I had in college, I asked:

Can you help me come up with a topic idea for this assignment, "You will write a research paper or case study on a leadership topic of your choice." I would like it to include Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid, and possibly a historical figure. 

Also: I'm a ChatGPT pro but this quick course taught me new tricks, and you can take it for free

Within seconds, the chatbot produced a response that provided me with the title of the essay, options of historical figures I could focus my article on, and insight on what information I could include in my paper, with specific examples of a case study I could use. 

2. Use the chatbot to create an outline

Once you have a solid topic, it's time to start brainstorming what you actually want to include in the essay. To facilitate the writing process, I always create an outline, including all the different points I want to touch upon in my essay. However, the outline-writing process is usually tedious. 

With ChatGPT, all you have to do is ask it to write the outline for you. 

Also: Thanks to my 5 favorite AI tools, I'm working smarter now

Using the topic that ChatGPT helped me generate in step one, I asked the chatbot to write me an outline by saying: 

Can you create an outline for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

After a couple of seconds, the chatbot produced a holistic outline divided into seven different sections, with three different points under each section. 

This outline is thorough and can be condensed for a shorter essay or elaborated on for a longer paper. If you don't like something or want to tweak the outline further, you can do so either manually or with more instructions to ChatGPT. 

As mentioned before, since Copilot is connected to the internet, if you use Copilot to produce the outline, it will even include links and sources throughout, further expediting your essay-writing process. 

3. Use ChatGPT to find sources

Now that you know exactly what you want to write, it's time to find reputable sources to get your information. If you don't know where to start, you can just ask ChatGPT. 

Also: How to make ChatGPT provide sources and citations

All you need to do is ask the AI to find sources for your essay topic. For example, I asked the following: 

Can you help me find sources for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

The chatbot output seven sources, with a bullet point for each that explained what the source was and why it could be useful. 

Also:   How to use ChatGPT to make charts and tables

The one caveat you will want to be aware of when using ChatGPT for sources is that it does not have access to information after 2021, so it will not be able to suggest the freshest sources. If you want up-to-date information, you can always use Copilot. 

Another perk of using Copilot is that it automatically links to sources in its answers. 

4. Use ChatGPT to write an essay

It is worth noting that if you take the text directly from the chatbot and submit it, your work could be considered a form of plagiarism since it is not your original work. As with any information taken from another source, text generated by an AI should be clearly identified and credited in your work.

Also: ChatGPT will now remember its past conversations with you (if you want it to)

In most educational institutions, the penalties for plagiarism are severe, ranging from a failing grade to expulsion from the school. A better use of ChatGPT's writing features would be to use it to create a sample essay to guide your writing. 

If you still want ChatGPT to create an essay from scratch, enter the topic and the desired length, and then watch what it generates. For example, I input the following text: 

Can you write a five-paragraph essay on the topic, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."

Within seconds, the chatbot gave the exact output I required: a coherent, five-paragraph essay on the topic. You could then use that text to guide your own writing. 

Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?

At this point, it's worth remembering how tools like ChatGPT work : they put words together in a form that they think is statistically valid, but they don't know if what they are saying is true or accurate. 

As a result, the output you receive might include invented facts, details, or other oddities. The output might be a useful starting point for your own work, but don't expect it to be entirely accurate, and always double-check the content. 

5. Use ChatGPT to co-edit your essay

Once you've written your own essay, you can use ChatGPT's advanced writing capabilities to edit the piece for you. 

You can simply tell the chatbot what you want it to edit. For example, I asked ChatGPT to edit our five-paragraph essay for structure and grammar, but other options could have included flow, tone, and more. 

Also: AI meets AR as ChatGPT is now available on the Apple Vision Pro

Once you ask the tool to edit your essay, it will prompt you to paste your text into the chatbot. ChatGPT will then output your essay with corrections made. This feature is particularly useful because ChatGPT edits your essay more thoroughly than a basic proofreading tool, as it goes beyond simply checking spelling. 

You can also co-edit with the chatbot, asking it to take a look at a specific paragraph or sentence, and asking it to rewrite or fix the text for clarity. Personally, I find this feature very helpful. 

How I test an AI chatbot's coding ability - and you can too

The best ai chatbots: chatgpt isn't the only one worth trying, virtue, intellect, and trust: how chatgpt beat humans 3-0 in a moral turing test.

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Student Opinion

Should Students Let ChatGPT Help Them Write Their College Essays?

If so, how? Tell us what you are thinking, and what practical and ethical questions these new A.I. tools raise for you.

Natasha Singer

Hey, ChatGPT, can you help me write my college admissions essays?

Absolutely! Please provide me with the essay prompts and any relevant information about yourself, your experiences, and your goals.

By Katherine Schulten

Teachers: We also have a lesson plan that accompanies this Student Opinion forum.

Are you working on a college application essay? Have you sought help from an adult? How about from an A.I. chatbot like ChatGPT or Bard? Were either useful? If so, how?

The New York Times recently published two articles about the questions these new tools are raising for the college process. One explores how A.I. chatbots are upending essay-writing. The other details what happened when a reporter fed application questions from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth to different bots.

Here’s how the first article, “ Ban or Embrace? Colleges Wrestle With A.I.-Generated Admissions Essays ,” explains what’s going on:

The personal essay has long been a staple of the application process at elite colleges, not to mention a bane for generations of high school students. Admissions officers have often employed applicants’ essays as a lens into their unique character, pluck, potential and ability to handle adversity. As a result, some former students say they felt tremendous pressure to develop, or at least concoct, a singular personal writing voice. But new A.I. tools threaten to recast the college application essay as a kind of generic cake mix, which high school students may simply lard or spice up to reflect their own tastes, interests and experiences — casting doubt on the legitimacy of applicants’ writing samples as authentic, individualized admissions yardsticks.

The piece continues:

Some teachers said they were troubled by the idea of students using A.I. tools to produce college essay themes and texts for deeper reasons: Outsourcing writing to bots could hinder students from developing important critical thinking and storytelling skills. “Part of the process of the college essay is finding your writing voice through all of that drafting and revising,” said Susan Barber, an Advanced Placement English literature teacher at Midtown High School, a public school in Atlanta. “And I think that’s something that ChatGPT would be robbing them of.” In August, Ms. Barber assigned her 12th-grade students to write college essays. This week, she held class discussions about ChatGPT, cautioning students that using A.I. chatbots to generate ideas or writing could make their college essays sound too generic. She advised them to focus more on their personal views and voices. Other educators said they hoped the A.I. tools might have a democratizing effect. Wealthier high school students, these experts noted, often have access to resources — alumni parents, family friends, paid writing coaches — to help them brainstorm, draft and edit their college admissions essays. ChatGPT could play a similar role for students who lack such resources, they said, especially those at large high schools where overworked college counselors have little time for individualized essay coaching.

The second article, “ We Used A.I. to Write Essays for Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Here’s How It Went ,” includes this example:

Dartmouth requires applicants to explain why they want to attend the college. I primed the A.I. chatbots by asking them to write in the voice of a high school senior who was hoping to double major at Dartmouth in computer science and biology. HuggingChat churned out text with trite words and phrases — “passion,” “meaningful impact,” “rigorous academic programs” — that seemed to me like the kind of stilted formal language a high school student might imagine a college admissions reviewer would want to read.

I asked Bard to minimize the clichés and add more specific details about Dartmouth’s computing department. But it still produced some of the same standard college application language — “renowned,” “impact” — as HuggingChat. Bard also wrote that I was hoping to study with Leslie Kaelbling, whom the chatbot described as an A.I. researcher at Dartmouth. That could have caused problems if I were a high school senior and had submitted the essay Bard had fabricated as part of my Dartmouth application. Professor Kaelbling , you see, teaches at M.I.T. My takeaway: high school seniors hoping to stand out may need to do wholesale rewrites of the texts they prompt A.I. chatbots to generate. Or they could just write their own — chatbot-free — admissions essays from scratch.

Students, read both articles, and then tell us:

Do you think you would use a chatbot to help you write your personal essay for college? If so, how? For example, would you ask it to suggest topics? Help structure your writing? Generate a rough draft? Edit?

If you have already used A.I. to write or edit a personal essay, what did you think of the result? Was the experience useful to you? To what extent did you, like the Times reporter, find the output generic and clichéd? Did the bot make any errors? How, if at all, did you use the results?

Some, like the teacher quoted in the first article, worry that letting A.I. help with your essays robs you of the chance to develop your personal voice. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Do you think there is value in drafting and revising writing without help? What has that process been like for you in the past? What have you learned from it?

Some people believe that these tools will help students who don’t have easy access to college counselors or writing coaches. Do you agree? Do these chatbots make the application process more fair for students with fewer resources?

Do any of the colleges you are applying to have a policy on the use of these tools? If so, what do you think of those guidelines?

What do you think is, or should be, the purpose of a college essay? Can it really show colleges who you are? If so, is it ethical to let a bot — or even another human — help?

Now, return to the questions we started with: Should students let ChatGPT help them write their college essays? If so, how? Did your answers change as you read the related articles or looked at other students’ responses? Are you left with any questions — whether practical or ethical — about the role of this new technology?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Katherine Schulten has been a Learning Network editor since 2006. Before that, she spent 19 years in New York City public schools as an English teacher, school-newspaper adviser and literacy coach. More about Katherine Schulten

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Can ChatGPT Write a Good College-Admissions Essay?

In January, I raised my hourly rate to $300 before wondering if I could get away with charging anything at all.

I teach high-schoolers how to write college essays, helping students claw their way out of hackneyed bildungsroman and into deftly tuned narratives . The clients (and their parents) can be a lot to handle, but my results ensure that I have a new cluster of rising seniors every summer. And the service I provide is in perpetually high demand among the moneyed and desperate private-school crowd.

Recently, though, the rise of ChatGPT had me questioning how much longer this comfortable arrangement could last. I started to fear obsolescence when I heard about uncannily passable AI-generated  letters of recommendation and wedding toasts — forms of writing not a million miles away from my specialty.  So, in an attempt to get to know my new enemy —  and gauge whether I was still employable —  I paid $20 for access to the “more creative” GPT4.

Nervously, I prompted ChatGPT with a series of bullet points and fed it what anyone who has applied to college in the past 15 years knows is the formula for the Common Application personal essay: “Write 600 words including a catchy hook to draw the reader in, a conflict, and a thoughtful self-reflection.”

ChatGPT didn’t even take a beat to process my outline; it spat out an essay as fast as I could read it. Its first draft (about a freak accident washing dishes leading to a lesson in the power of fear) was unsettlingly well-composed, but stiff in a way that kept it from resonating emotionally (often a problem with student-generated drafts, too). ChatGPT wrote, “ I was horrified, not just at the sight of my own blood but also at the thought of needing stitches. In that moment, I was transported back to the time when I was a child and I got my first stitches. ” Not bad, but not exactly transcendent, either.

The next big test: Could this thing incorporate feedback? I replied that the essay was “a little formal, can you make it more conversational?” Done. ChatGPT added a few “ you see ”s and began several sentences with “ So .” The essay was suddenly more casual: “ The experience taught me that fear, no matter how powerful it may seem, can be overcome with perseverance and determination ” became “ But eventually, I realized that this fear was holding me back and preventing me from enjoying something that brought me so much joy. ”

With these small tweaks, ChatGPT’s effort was already significantly better than most first drafts I come across. I tried to throw it off with something random, adding, “My favorite comedian is Jon Stewart. Can you incorporate that into the essay?” ChatGPT wrote three new sentences that explained how Stewart “helped me see the lighter side of things and lifted my spirits.”

I told it to be funny. It tried. I corrected it, “No, that’s too corny, make it more sarcastic.” It revised, “ And let’s face it, what’s a little scar compared to the joy of a rack of clean dishes? ” Then I wrote, “Add in my high-achieving older brother who I always compare myself to a classic Common App essay character as a foil.” I specified that the brother breaks his collarbone around the same time the main character has to get stitches. ChatGPT came up with this: “ And here I was, feeling guilty for even complaining about my measly scratch when his pain was so much worse. It was like a twisted game of ‘whose injury is more severe?’ ” I watched ChatGPT revise (in seconds) the amount of material it typically takes students (with my help) hours to get through.  Intrusive thought: Even if I lower my rates, there won’t be any demand.

And then I slowed down, stopped panicking, and really read the essay.

I began noticing all the cracks in it. For one thing, ChatGPT was heavy on banal reflections (“ Looking back on my experience… ”) and empty-sounding conclusions (“ I am grateful for the lessons it taught me ”) that I would never let slide. I always advise students to get into specifics about how they’ve changed as people, but ChatGPT relied on anodyne generalities. Most importantly, it couldn’t go beyond a generic narrative into the realm of the highly specific. (A good student essay might have, say, detailed how Stewart’s Mark Twain Prize acceptance speech helped them overcome a fear of public speaking.)

AI is also just lazy. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional transitional phrase, but using “ Slowly but surely, ” “ Over time, ” “ Looking back on my experience, ” and “ In conclusion ” to lead off consecutive paragraphs is only okay if it’s your first time writing an essay. Leading off a conclusion with “ In conclusion ” means you’re either in sixth grade or satisfied with getting a C.

While the essay technically met every criterion I set (hook, conflict, self-reflection), it also failed the main test I pose to students: Have you ever read a version of this story? The answer here was most definitely “yes.” It’s uncanny how well ChatGPT mimicked the contrived essay that I’m paid to steer kids away from — the one you’d be shown as an example of what not to do in a college-essay seminar. It reads like a satire of one of those “the ability was inside me all along” or “all I needed to do was believe in myself/be true to myself/listen to my inner voice” narratives rife with clichés and half-baked epiphanies. ChatGPT’s basic competence led me to overlook the middling quality of its execution. It’s the same disbelief-to-disillusionment arc ChatGPT has inspired elsewhere — take the viral AI travel itinerary that seemed perfect until people pointed out some pretty glaring (and possibly dangerous) errors.

Credit where it’s due. I expend a lot of effort translating overwritten, clunky, and generally unclear student prose. ChatGPT excels in writing cleanly — if flatly. It’s great at producing simple, informational text from a set of data. Creating a rule book for Airbnb guests, writing a “help wanted” ad, drafting an email with details for a surprise party: These are perfect cases for ChatGPT right now. From this mess, ChatGPT would translate the raw information into a block of concise text that wouldn’t need style, voice, or flair to be successful. If you want to share facts in a digestible and clear way, ChatGPT is your guy.

But ChatGPT failed hardest at the most important part of the college essay: self-reflection. Literary agent Jamie Carr of the Book Group describes great storytelling as something that makes “connections between things and ideas that are totally nonsensical — which is something only humans can do.” Can ChatGPT bring together disparate parts of your life and use a summer job to illuminate a fraught friendship? Can it link a favorite song to an identity crisis? So far, nope. Crucially, ChatGPT can’t do one major thing that all my clients can: have a random thought. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you this” is something I love to hear from students, because it means I’m about to go on a wild ride that only the teenage brain can offer. It’s frequently in these tangents about collecting cologne or not paying it forward at the Starbucks drive-thru that we discover the key to the essay. I often describe my main task as helping students turn over stones they didn’t know existed, or stones they assumed were off-limits. ChatGPT can’t tap into the unpredictable because it can only turn over the precise stones you tell it to — and if you’re issuing these orders, chances are you already know what’s under the stone.

In the South Park episode “Deep Learning,” Clyde and Stan use AI to compose thoughtful, emotionally mature text messages to their girlfriends. When Bebe asks if she should cut her hair, Clyde (via ChatGPT) replies, “You would look great with any length of hair. Trying a new look could be fun.” Only a fourth-grader (no offense, Bebe) would buy that the message is authentic. When Stan’s girlfriend Wendy wants to repair their relationship, Stan responds, “We can work things out if you’re willing. I still believe we can make this work. Let’s not give up on each other.” ChatGPT is credited as a writer in this episode, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the messages were punched up to reach this level of dullness. But the style speaks to something I noticed when I asked ChatGPT to write a short story: It makes everything sound like an unfunny parody. A parody of an attentive boyfriend. A parody of a short story. A parody of a college essay.

AI may supplant me one day, but for now, ChatGPT isn’t an admissions-essay quick fix. It’s not even a moderate threat to the service I offer. And while there are plenty of problems with a system in which the ultra-elite pay someone like me to help package insight into a few hundred words, ChatGPT doesn’t solve any of them. Perhaps one day, we’ll figure out a fairer way forward. For now, I’m quite relieved to report that my expertise is still definitely worth something — maybe even more than $300 an hour.

• artificial intelligence
• college admissions

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Home » Blog » Using ChatGPT for Scholarships – A Professional Approach

Using ChatGPT for Scholarships – A Professional Approach

• Overview of ChatGPT

The Importance of Scholarships

Efficiency in research, streamlining application processes, enhanced writing abilities, natural language processing, customization and personalization, real-time assistance, step 1: conducting research on scholarship opportunities, step 2: organizing application materials, step 3: crafting a compelling personal statement, step 4: editing and proofreading, be genuine and authentic, tailor applications to each scholarship, keep track of deadlines, network and seek recommendations, emphasize the benefits of chatgpt for scholarships, encourage continued learning and improvement.

As technology continues to evolve,  ChatGPT  has emerged as a powerful tool in a variety of fields, encompassing education, business, and personal growth. ChatGPT, which stands for  Chatbot Generative Pre-trained Transformer , is an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) language model designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives. In education, ChatGPT has been a game-changer, with applications ranging from  helping teachers enhance classroom experiences  to assisting students in their academic pursuits, such as by streamlining the scholarship application process.

Scholarships play a crucial role in facilitating access to higher education for many students, as they provide much-needed financial support based on various criteria, such as academic merit, athletic prowess, or extracurricular involvement. However, the scholarship application process can be overwhelming, requiring applicants to search for suitable opportunities, gather necessary documents, and craft compelling personal statements. This is where ChatGPT comes in, offering invaluable assistance in every step of the process, from research to submission, ultimately making the scholarship application process more efficient and accessible.

Using ChatGPT for Scholarships: Why it Matters

In today’s competitive academic landscape, it is crucial to make the most of every opportunity. Scholarships play a significant role in helping students achieve their educational goals, and using ChatGPT for scholarships can provide a myriad of benefits. By implementing this powerful AI tool, students can experience increased efficiency in research, streamlined application processes, and enhanced writing abilities.

One of the main advantages of using  ChatGPT  in scholarship pursuits is the increased efficiency it offers in the research process. With its advanced natural language processing capabilities, ChatGPT can quickly sift through vast amounts of information, providing students with relevant scholarship opportunities tailored to their needs. This not only saves time and energy but also ensures that students can identify and focus on the most suitable scholarships for their goals. For more information on how ChatGPT is revolutionizing education, see  chatgpt in education .

Scholarship applications can be a daunting task, given the numerous forms, essays, and supplementary materials required. ChatGPT aids in streamlining the application process by helping students organize their application materials and providing real-time assistance. By utilizing ChatGPT’s customization and personalization features, students can create a more efficient workflow, ensuring that their applications are cohesive and well-structured.

A compelling personal statement is often the key to a successful scholarship application. With ChatGPT’s advanced language processing algorithms, students can improve their writing by receiving suggestions for better structure, grammar, and vocabulary. This allows for the creation of more engaging and persuasive content, which may increase the likelihood of securing a scholarship. Additionally, ChatGPT can assist in the editing and proofreading process, ensuring that the final draft is polished and free of errors. To learn more about how ChatGPT benefits students, visit  chatgpt for students .

By integrating ChatGPT into the scholarship application process, students can enjoy numerous benefits that make the experience more efficient, manageable, and ultimately, more successful. With its cutting-edge technology, ChatGPT provides valuable support in research, organization, and writing, enabling students to maximize their chances of securing scholarships and achieving their educational goals.

Key Features of ChatGPT

One of the most significant features of ChatGPT is its  Natural Language Processing (NLP)  capabilities. NLP enables ChatGPT to understand, interpret, and generate human-like responses in a conversational manner. This advanced technology allows students to seamlessly interact with the AI tool while researching and applying for scholarships. The NLP feature ensures that the AI-powered assistance feels natural, making it easier for students to engage with the tool and seek its help in their scholarship pursuits.

Another important aspect of ChatGPT is its ability to offer  customization and personalization . This means that the AI can adapt to the specific needs of each student, providing tailored assistance in the scholarship application process. By understanding individual requirements, ChatGPT can offer personalized guidance, such as generating unique and compelling personal statements or identifying scholarship opportunities that align with a student’s background and interests. This level of customization results in a more effective and targeted approach to applying for scholarships.

Real-time assistance  is yet another valuable feature of ChatGPT. As students embark on their scholarship journey, they often need immediate support in various stages of the application process. Whether it’s researching potential scholarships, drafting personal statements, or reviewing application materials, ChatGPT’s real-time assistance ensures that students receive the help they need when they need it. This on-demand support not only saves time but also empowers students to produce high-quality applications that increase their chances of success .

With these key features, ChatGPT proves to be a powerful tool for students seeking scholarships. By leveraging NLP, customization, and real-time assistance, ChatGPT offers an efficient and professional approach to the scholarship application process. For more information on how ChatGPT can be effectively utilized in various educational settings, explore the following resources: chatgpt in education and chatgpt for students .

How to Use ChatGPT for Scholarships

The first step to utilizing ChatGPT for scholarships is to conduct thorough research on available scholarship opportunities. ChatGPT can efficiently help you find relevant scholarships by scouring the web and compiling a list of potential opportunities that align with your interests, qualifications, and goals. By entering specific keywords tailored to your needs, you can quickly identify scholarships that would be a good fit, saving you time and energy in your search.

Once you have identified potential scholarships, it is crucial to keep your application materials organized. ChatGPT can assist with this task by helping you create a structured outline, which includes a list of required documents, deadlines, and submission guidelines. This organized approach will ensure that you have all the necessary materials prepared and submitted in a timely manner.

A well-written personal statement is essential for a successful scholarship application. With ChatGPT’s advanced natural language processing capabilities, you can craft a compelling narrative that showcases your unique background, strengths, and aspirations. ChatGPT can offer suggestions, recommend sentence structures, and provide inspiration, all while keeping your writing genuine and authentic. This tailored assistance will significantly enhance your writing abilities, allowing you to create a captivating personal statement that sets you apart from the competition.

Some possible internal links: chatgpt for students,  chatgpt for school counselors

The final step in using ChatGPT for scholarship applications is editing and proofreading your work. ChatGPT serves as an invaluable tool for identifying grammatical errors, inconsistencies, and areas for improvement in your writing. By offering real-time assistance, ChatGPT helps you refine your content, ensuring that your personal statement is polished, coherent, and error-free.

By following these steps, ChatGPT can be an indispensable resource in your scholarship application process. From efficiently researching scholarships to crafting a compelling narrative and refining your writing, ChatGPT offers a professional approach to help you achieve your academic goals.

Tips for a Successful Scholarship Application

A successful scholarship application not only requires diligence and dedication but also strategic planning and execution. By leveraging ChatGPT in your scholarship pursuits, you can enhance your chances of success. Here are some crucial tips to consider when applying for scholarships:

An essential aspect of any scholarship application is to  be genuine and authentic . Scholarship committees are adept at identifying candidates who are true to themselves and have a clear sense of purpose. Use ChatGPT to help you express your experiences, aspirations, and values effectively, while maintaining your unique voice.

Scholarships often have specific requirements and targets, which is why it is vital to  tailor your applications  accordingly. Avoid sending generic, one-size-fits-all applications, as they often fail to make a lasting impression. ChatGPT can assist you in customizing your application materials to suit each scholarship’s unique criteria and objectives. This guide offers valuable insights on using ChatGPT to refine your applications.

One of the most critical aspects of applying for scholarships is  keeping track of deadlines . Missing a deadline can result in a lost opportunity, even if you are an ideal candidate. Utilize ChatGPT’s organizational capabilities to help you stay on top of your submission dates and ensure timely submission of your application materials.

Networking and seeking recommendations  are invaluable aspects of the scholarship application process. Reach out to individuals, such as teachers, mentors, or counselors, who can provide strong endorsements for your academic and personal achievements. You can use ChatGPT to draft personalized requests for recommendations or thank-you notes, showcasing your professionalism and appreciation.

By adhering to these tips and integrating ChatGPT into your scholarship application journey, you can significantly enhance your chances of success. Remember to stay focused, dedicated, and resourceful in your pursuit of scholarships, as they can provide life-changing opportunities for personal and academic growth.

In summary, utilizing  ChatGPT for scholarships  offers a plethora of advantages for students seeking financial support for their education. This powerful AI tool greatly enhances efficiency in research, streamlines the application process, and bolsters writing abilities, ultimately increasing the likelihood of securing coveted scholarships. By harnessing the capabilities of ChatGPT’s natural language processing, customization, and real-time assistance, students can effectively navigate the often complex and challenging landscape of scholarship applications.

As with any tool, the benefits of ChatGPT are best realized when users continue to refine their skills and understanding of its potential applications. It is crucial to remember that AI is not a substitute for genuine effort and personal growth, but rather a valuable resource that can augment an individual’s abilities. Students should remain authentic in their applications, tailoring their responses to each scholarship, adhering to deadlines, and fostering a strong network of support.

Incorporating ChatGPT into the scholarship application process is just one example of how AI is revolutionizing the educational landscape. For more insights on the various applications of ChatGPT in education, consider exploring resources such as chatgpt for students and  chatgpt in the classroom . By embracing AI advancements, students, educators, and counselors alike can unlock new opportunities and continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of education.

Read our latest education blogs here. We are pioneers in proffering personalised, affordable and high-quality lessons using an advanced learning platform.

How can students use ChatGPT to enhance their scholarship application process?

Students can utilize ChatGPT to brainstorm scholarship essay ideas, structure content, and refine language for a compelling narrative that highlights their achievements and aspirations effectively.

Can you provide examples of how ChatGPT can help students craft compelling scholarship essays?

ChatGPT assists students by suggesting key points, organizing arguments, and providing language refinement, helping them create persuasive and well-structured scholarship essays.

How does ChatGPT assist students in brainstorming ideas and structuring their scholarship essays effectively?

ChatGPT aids students in brainstorming ideas and organizing their thoughts logically, ensuring scholarship essays are coherent and effectively convey their message.

What role can ChatGPT play in editing and refining scholarship essays to improve their quality?

ChatGPT’s editing suggestions enhance the quality of scholarship essays by offering grammar corrections, vocabulary enhancements, and stylistic improvements, resulting in polished submissions.

Can you explain how ChatGPT can help students highlight their achievements and qualifications in scholarship applications?

ChatGPT guides students in showcasing their achievements, leadership experiences, and qualifications effectively, enabling them to create a compelling narrative that resonates with scholarship reviewers.

How does the use of ChatGPT contribute to tailoring scholarship application materials for different opportunities?

ChatGPT aids students in tailoring scholarship application materials by generating content that aligns with specific scholarship criteria, prompts, or values. It can help students highlight relevant achievements, experiences, and goals, ensuring a targeted and impactful application.

Are there any potential drawbacks or considerations that students should be aware of when using ChatGPT for scholarships?

Students should be cautious of overreliance on ChatGPT, as it may dilute their unique voice. It’s crucial to review and personalize generated content to maintain authenticity and ensure it resonates with the scholarship committee.

Can ChatGPT provide guidance on addressing specific essay prompts or questions from scholarship applications?

ChatGPT can provide guidance on addressing essay prompts by suggesting relevant points, structuring responses, and offering insights into effective approaches for crafting compelling essays.

How can students ensure that the essays generated or refined using ChatGPT maintain an authentic and genuine voice?

Students can maintain authenticity by infusing personal anecdotes, passions, and perspectives into the essays. Review, edit, and personalize content to reflect genuine experiences.

Are there any success stories of students who have successfully used ChatGPT to secure scholarships?

While specific success stories are limited, students have reported using ChatGPT to enhance their scholarship applications, helping them articulate their achievements and aspirations more effectively.

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Will ChatGPT Affect the College Application Essay?

The new AI-based writing tool, ChatGPT, has taken the world by storm. The New York Times calls it “the best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public.” More than one million people signed up to test it in the first five days after its release. But will this tool change the landscape of college admissions as students start using it to write their college essays? And should you be using it?

ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI, has the potential to assist students in writing college essays. However, it is important to note that the model should not be used as a substitute for a student's own writing and critical thinking skills.

Every publication out there has weighed in on what this new tool will mean for college-going students. Forbes got the service to write two different college essays in just 20 minutes!

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Some History Around AI

John McCarthy, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, explains that AI is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines . The forerunner to these smart machines was built in 1951 by Marvin Minsky, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

You’ll already have seen AI in action: search engines, GPS navigators and self-driving cars are all AI-managed. More and more schools and universities are adopting the technology to enhance teaching and learning, too.

Modern-day AI displays some of the behaviours you’d usually associate with human intelligence – planning, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception and social intelligence. It combines these behaviours with the capacity to process vast amounts of data far faster and with less error than a human brain. This gives it the power to help solve problems in almost every area of daily life.

The Benefits of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a machine learning model that is trained on a large dataset of text, allowing it to generate human-like responses to prompts. This technology has many potential applications, including writing. With the ability to generate coherent and grammatically correct sentences, ChatGPT could be used to assist students in writing college essays.

One of the key benefits of using ChatGPT for essay writing is its ability to generate ideas and potential topic sentences. This can be particularly helpful for students who struggle with writer's block or are unsure of what to write about. By providing a prompt to the model, such as the prompt for an essay, ChatGPT can generate a list of potential topic sentences or ideas for the student to consider.

Another potential benefit of using ChatGPT for essay writing is its ability to generate coherent and grammatically correct sentences . This can be beneficial for students who struggle with grammar and sentence structure. ChatGPT can provide a starting point for the student, who can then edit and revise the generated text to suit their own writing style and voice. Tools such as Grammarly and Google Docs’ Smart Compose already provide these services and are other examples of AI-based edtech tools that have already entered the classroom.

Too Early To Tell

However, it is important to note that ChatGPT is not a substitute for a student's own writing and critical thinking skills. While the model can assist with generating ideas and providing grammatically correct sentences, it cannot replace a student's own creativity and understanding of the topic. Additionally, ChatGPT's output is based on the data it has been trained on, which may not always align with the student's own perspective or understanding of the topic.

Jim Jump, the academic dean and director of college counseling at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va., told Inside Higher Ed that he does not see the tool taking over basic writing skills. He read the Forbes essays and said that both essays “resemble cliché essays, with neither answering the prompt in a convincing way.”

The most important aspect of a student’s college essay is the personal details that are added in there. That is what helps admissions officers better understand the student and whether they will thrive at a certain university. Like Jump says, “Great essays have a spark to them that is not about the ability to write but rather the ability to think. Great personal essays are clever and insightful, with an authenticity and a sincerity that’s—well, personal.”

It's also important to note that many institutions have strict policies against plagiarism, which includes using AI generated content. It's highly recommended to check the policies of your university or college before using AI generated content in any work submitted.

Additionally, it's important to understand the ethical implications of using AI generated content. Even though ChatGPT may assist in generating grammatically correct sentences, it does not have the ability to understand the context of the essay or the ethical implications of the content it generates. It's the responsibility of the student to ensure that the content generated is ethical and appropriate.

At this point, many are approaching ChatGPT the saw way society approached any new invention – with trepidation and amazement. The calculator in its time probably met the same kind of discussions about whether it was the “death of math”. Several educators believe that while the bot can aggregate knowledge, it can not actually synthesize a unique theory or idea, the Brookings Institution reported.

Many people argue that tools will be invented that will help professors determine whether a student has used AI in their essays. A Princeton University graduate has just created an app that can tell whether an essay has been written by ChatGPT, NPR has reported. GPTZero uses two indicators – perplexity and burstiness – to determine whether a piece of writing has been generated by a bot. "For so long, AI has been a black box where we really don't know what's going on inside," said the app’s inventor Edward Tian. "And with GPTZero, I wanted to start pushing back and fighting against that."

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, ChatGPT has the potential to assist students in writing college essays. However, it is important to remember that the model should not be used as a substitute for a student's own writing and critical thinking skills. For the time being it does not seem that the college essay is going anywhere. Additionally, it's important to check the policies of the university or college before using AI generated content and to be mindful of the ethical implications of the content generated.

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How To Write a Scholarship Application With ChatGPT

Many students procrastinate applying for scholarships to the point where they don't end up applying. Because of this many scholarships only get a measly number of applications. This means that students that bother to submit a half decent application have a great chance of picking up thousands of dollars to help with their education.

Couple hours of time for thousands of dollars? Sounds like a deal to me.

Getting Started

Pick a scholarship.

Check the scholarship directory for your university to see if there are any scholarships that require a written application. These will most likely have less competition.

Sign up for ChatGPT

Sign up for a ChatGPT account here .

If ChatGPT is not available (sometimes the service goes down due to demand) you can follow the tutorial using a free trial of a AI writing assistant .

Prompting AI to Write the Scholarship

We will generate the scholarship application step by step. In each step we will write a descriptive prompt telling the AI what to write.

Let's look at an example.

Generating the Structure

Write an outline for a scholarship application demonstrating academic ability, leadership capability, volunteer work, and work experience.

I. Introduction

• Briefly introduce yourself and your background
• Mention the scholarship you are applying for
• Explain why you are a strong candidate for the scholarship (e.g. your academic achievements, leadership experience, etc.)

II. Academic ability

• Discuss your academic achievements, such as your GPA, class rank, and any awards or honors you have received
• Mention any academic clubs or organizations you have been a member of, and any leadership roles you have held within those groups
• Describe any relevant academic projects or research you have participated in

III. Leadership capability

• Discuss any leadership roles you have held, both inside and outside of school
• Describe your leadership style and how you have used it to achieve success in your leadership roles
• Provide examples of how you have demonstrated leadership, such as by organizing events, managing teams, or leading initiatives

IV. Volunteer work

• Describe your volunteer experience, including the organizations you have worked with and the tasks you have completed
• Explain how your volunteer work has helped you grow as a person and how it has impacted the community
• Mention any awards or recognition you have received for your volunteer work

V. Work experience

Discuss any paid or unpaid work experience you have, including internships and part-time jobs

Describe the tasks and responsibilities you had in these roles and any skills or knowledge you gained from them

Explain how your work experience has prepared you for the scholarship and your future goals

VI. Conclusion

• Summarize your strengths as a candidate and why you are deserving of the scholarship
• Express your gratitude for the opportunity to apply and your excitement about the possibility of receiving the scholarship.

Writing About our Academic Ability

Write a narrative about having to work hard to earn a 3.7 GPA, winning the regional science fair, and the amazing feeling of being recognized as an honors student

Writing a Paragraph about Leadership Capability

Write a narrative about being the editor of the student newspaper, being the treasurer for a fundraiser for cancer research, and organizing free soccer lessons for underprivileged children.

Write a Paragraph about Work Experience

Write a narrative about your internship working on web development the local humane society and how it inspired you to study computer science

Closing Paragraph

Write a paragraph describing why you are excited to apply for the Marjorie Young Bell Scholarship and will benefit from the financial aid you receive

Final Product

Hopefully these examples sparked your imagination of how you can use ChatGPT to write your scholarship. You can try editing the prompts to reflect your specific experience. Hopefully this helps you bag several thousand dollars in scholarships!

© 2023 Draft With AI.

Should I Use ChatGPT for My Essays?

Artificial intelligence has finally come to the world of academia. Students have been tempted to use LLM-based instruments such as ChatGPT for writing essays and other research papers by simply writing a prompt and clicking “Generate.” 

The burning question, however, revolves around the quality of work that AI can produce. Is the technology advanced enough to deliver on its promises, or does it fall short of expectations? Students are grappling with the decision of whether to entrust AI with their essay writing and contemplating the potential trade-offs involved.

In this article, we offer you the opportunity to explore if chat gpt good at writing essays, the pros and cons of AI writing tools to gain a deeper understanding of why it’s more of a hindrance for students rather than a salvation. For those of you who would like to jump straight to the conclusion, using a college essay writing service provided by human authors rather than machines is still a better alternative than trusting such a foundational component of any course as an essay to a machine.

What Is Generative AI and How Does It Work

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a subset of machine learning that focuses on creating systems capable of producing new and original content rather than simply analyzing and interpreting existing data. What is generative AI compared to other forms of artificial intelligence? Unlike traditional AI models that rely on predefined rules and patterns, generative AI can generate novel outputs by learning from vast amounts of diverse data. This form of AI is often employed in tasks such as text and image generation, where the goal is to create indistinguishable content from human-created content.

The functioning of generative AI is rooted in neural networks, which are designed to mimic the human brain's structure and function. These networks consist of interconnected nodes organized into layers, each processing and extracting features from the input data. Generative models typically employ a type of neural network called a "generative model," which learns to understand the underlying patterns and structures in the training data. During the training process, the model refines its understanding of the data and becomes capable of generating new, coherent outputs by making predictions based on the learned patterns.

Seriously Considering ChatGPT to Write Your Essay?

When in a hurry, GenAI is not the best option. When in a rush, relying on expert writers is always an optimal solution.  

Generative AI Setbacks

Now, let’s move on to the pros and cons of Chat GPT as the most popular GenAI instrument. It operates through sophisticated neural network architectures to produce text content, with recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and transformer models being commonly employed. The primary objective of generative AI in this context is to generate coherent and contextually relevant text passages autonomously. 

The model is trained on large datasets containing diverse examples of human-written text, learning the intricacies of language, grammar, and contextual relationships. While generative AI can produce impressive text content, it's important to note that it doesn't possess true comprehension or consciousness but rather mimics linguistic patterns learned from its training data. 

Quality Concerns

One significant drawback of relying on ChatGPT for scholarly writing is the variable output quality. While it can generate coherent text, it might lack the depth, critical thinking, and nuanced understanding that human-generated content often possesses. The AI might struggle to grasp complex topics or provide insightful analysis, potentially leading to subpar essay quality. Even if you ask the GenAI system, ‘Can I use Chat GPT for essays?’ it will reply, ‘Yes, but no. There are several major considerations.’

Lack of Originality

Another disadvantage is the risk of essays lacking originality. ChatGPT learns from existing datasets, and without proper guidance, it may reproduce common ideas and phrases. This lack of originality can affect the uniqueness and authenticity of the essay, potentially leading to issues related to plagiarism and academic integrity.

Limited Subject Expertise

ChatGPT's knowledge is broad but not necessarily deep or specialized. It might lack expertise in specific academic subjects, leading to inaccuracies or oversimplifications in content. Students relying solely on ChatGPT may find it challenging to produce essays demonstrating a profound understanding of specialized topics.

Contextual Misinterpretation

ChatGPT may struggle with nuanced contextual understanding, leading to misinterpretations of prompts or generating contextually inappropriate content. This lack of contextual finesse can result in essays that deviate from the intended meaning or fail to address the nuances specific to a given topic. Students may spend additional time correcting or clarifying the output to align it with the intended context.

Dependency and Skill Erosion

Over-reliance on ChatGPT might hinder the development of essential writing and critical-thinking skills. Suppose students consistently use AI to compose essays. In that case, they may miss out on the learning opportunities that come from grappling with the complexities of research, analysis, and creative expression, ultimately impacting their academic growth.

AI Hallucination

While using ChatGPT for college essays, an unwary student might face the phenomenon known as "AI hallucination." This occurs when the model generates information that may sound plausible but is ultimately fictional or inaccurate. ChatGPT does not possess real-world knowledge and can unintentionally fabricate details or provide misleading information. Relying on such hallucinated content can compromise the reliability and factual accuracy of the essay, posing a risk to academic credibility. Students need to be vigilant in fact-checking and verifying information to ensure the accuracy of their AI-generated content.

Tried ChatGPT, but the Result Is Dissapointing?

Try a professional essay service – a time-tested instrument for students seeking good results with minimal effort.  

How GenAI May Actually Help You with Essays

Generative AI can enhance essay production by offering valuable assistance in brainstorming ideas, overcoming writer's block, and providing creative inspiration, allowing students to refine and expand their own thoughts. The tool's ability to generate coherent sentences and structures can serve as a foundation upon which students build their essays, fostering a collaborative writing process. While it can assist in generating content, students must use the technology judiciously, actively engage in the writing process, and ensure the final output reflects their own voice and understanding of the subject matter. Here are three no-nonsense tips on how to use ChatGPT to write an essay:

Idea Generation and Brainstorming

ChatGPT can be used as a creative companion, helping students generate ideas for essays and overcome writer's block. By providing prompts or asking questions, the AI can inspire diverse perspectives and angles for the essay topic, kickstarting the thought process and expanding the range of potential content. ChatGPT not only assists in overcoming initial hurdles but also facilitates a dynamic exchange of ideas. By engaging in a virtual dialogue with the AI, students can explore different perspectives, receive real-time feedback, and foster a collaborative brainstorming process that goes beyond the traditional confines of solitary ideation, ultimately enriching the depth and diversity of their essay content.

Structural Assistance and Coherent Expression

The tool generates well-structured and coherent sentences, supporting organizing thoughts and expressing ideas fluently. ChatGPT's ability to understand context allows it to contribute to the development of clear introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions, providing a solid foundation that students can build upon for a more polished essay structure. Similar to the best essay writing apps , ChatGPT aids in developing entire paragraphs and sections, ensuring a seamless flow of ideas throughout the essay. Its contextual understanding can guide students in creating a well-organized narrative that strengthens the overall coherence and impact of their written work.

Language Enhancement and Vocabulary Enrichment

ChatGPT can help enhance the language and vocabulary used in an essay. By exposing users to a wide range of phrasing and terminology, the AI can assist in refining the language style and ensuring a more sophisticated and nuanced expression of ideas, thereby contributing to the overall eloquence and professionalism of the written piece. ChatGPT for writing essays can become a linguistic mentor for international students, suggesting alternative phrasings and introducing varied vocabulary, thereby refining the eloquence and richness of the essay. The GetAI can enhance immediate writing tasks and contribute to the long-term development of language skills, fostering a more nuanced and sophisticated command of written expression.

Why Doing Essays by Yourself Is Always a Better Choice

While ChatGPT offers valuable support in writing, doing essays independently holds several advantages that contribute to a more enriching and authentic academic experience. Working on essays individually provides a deep engagement with the subject matter, allowing for a genuine exploration of personal insights and understanding. It enhances critical thinking skills, encourages original thought, and builds a strong foundation for academic growth. Although generative AI can be an assistant, it’s you who should be in charge of the writing process and deliver the final result. 

Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills

Independent essay writing promotes the cultivation of critical thinking and analytical skills. By grappling with the complexities of a topic without external assistance, students develop the ability to analyze, synthesize information, and construct well-reasoned arguments, contributing to a more profound understanding of the subject matter. Learn how to write an essay outline to make the first step to mastering the art of academic writing.

Personalized Exploration of Ideas

Writing an essay independently allows students to embark on a personalized journey of idea exploration. They can delve into their unique perspectives, draw connections between concepts, and explore creative approaches to presenting their thoughts, fostering a deeper intellectual engagement with the material.

Enhanced Research Competence

Independently crafting essays necessitates comprehensive research, honing students' research skills and information retrieval abilities. This process not only ensures a more thorough understanding of the topic but also equips students with the skills necessary for conducting effective and independent research in future academic and professional endeavors.

Cultivation of Writing Style

Independent writing contributes to the development of an individual writing style. Through the iterative process of drafting, revising, and refining, students refine their voice, expression, and linguistic choices. This personal touch not only makes the essay more compelling but also contributes to the development of a unique and identifiable writing style.

Ownership and Satisfaction

Crafting essays independently fosters a sense of ownership over one's work. The satisfaction derived from overcoming challenges, expressing ideas authentically, and producing a piece of writing that reflects individual effort contributes to a deeper appreciation for the learning process and academic accomplishments.

Professional Writers: The Best of Two Worlds

When writing on your own is not an option and motivation levels occasionally drop, students often struggle with the decision, ‘Should I use ChatGPT for my essays?’ While it may seem like a quick “push-button” solution, the imperfections and the need for extensive polishing can be time-consuming and frustrating. In such cases, entrusting the task to professional writers proves to be a mindful choice. With expertise, tailored content, and a commitment to quality, expert writers offer a streamlined alternative for those who seek well-crafted essays without compromising on excellence or spending hours refining AI-generated drafts.

Expertise and Specialized Knowledge

Experts of an essay service often possess specialized knowledge and expertise in various subjects. Unlike ChatGPT, which may lack depth in specific areas, human writers bring a nuanced understanding of complex topics, ensuring a higher level of accuracy, depth, and sophistication in the content. This expertise allows for incorporating relevant research, current trends, and a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

Tailored and Customized Content

Seasoned essay writers excel in tailoring content to specific requirements and individual preferences. While ChatGPT provides general suggestions, human writers can adapt their writing style, tone, and content to match the unique needs of a particular assignment or client. This personalized touch ensures that the essay meets specific guidelines, aligns with the student's voice, and addresses the nuances of the given topic more effectively.

Quality Assurance and Revisions

Professional writing platforms often come with quality assurance and revision policies. Human writers can produce polished, well-structured essays with attention to detail, grammar, and coherence. Moreover, these services typically offer revision options, allowing students to request modifications or clarifications until they are satisfied with the final product. This level of personalized attention and quality control when writing an essay surpasses the capabilities of ChatGPT by a great amount.

What Are Students Saying

Despite the buzz surrounding generative AI, many students aren't impressed with ChatGPT's essay-writing abilities. Research reveals that students find the essays it produces too basic and broad for academic standards. Despite using ChatGPT for multiple semesters, they struggle to generate papers with the required depth and focus.

Detection is another issue. Tools like Turnitin easily spot AI-written content, causing concerns among students. One student reported that nearly all of their ChatGPT-generated essay was flagged as AI-written, even after attempting to disguise it by altering sentence structures.

Trust is a significant issue. Despite some students' attempts to utilize ChatGPT for simple problems in accounting, it consistently fails to provide accurate answers. Even when students tried to manipulate it, ChatGPT couldn't maintain consistency, leading to doubts about its reliability.

Furthermore, recent versions of ChatGPT seem less reliable and more biased. Responses vary widely between versions, and the AI often provides neutral or evasive answers instead of factual information. Additionally, it appears to censor or avoid certain topics, impacting the quality of assistance it offers.

Below are authentic comments from students on Reddit, sharing their concerns and observations:

Overall, students are increasingly disillusioned with ChatGPT's performance, citing its inability to produce high-quality essays and provide accurate information. Its limitations in detecting AI-generated content and inconsistencies in responses contribute to growing skepticism among users.

ChatGPT isn't designed for academic writing. It lacks the critical thinking and analysis abilities of human writers. Even though it can generate text, it often lacks accuracy and credibility needed for academic essays. Besides, essays produced by AI still need to be checked, revised, and updated by humans, which defeats the purpose of using AI for essay writing. It's better to rely on human writers and trusted sources for academic papers.

In the hustle and bustle of student life, when time becomes a precious commodity and motivation wanes, the allure of quick solutions like ChatGPT might seem tempting. However, the reality often unveils itself in the imperfections and the laborious task of refining AI-generated content. 

When faced with the twin challenges of time constraints and a lack of motivation, turning to human writers emerges as the optimal choice. Professional essay writers not only offer expertise and tailored content but also serve as partners in the creative process, crafting essays that resonate with individual voices and adhere to specific requirements. 

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Related Articles

An academic used ChatGPT to write a letter of recommendation that helped a student win a prestigious scholarship from Cambridge

• Matt Huculak, a university librarian, used ChatGPT to help write a letter of recommendation for a student.
• The "heartfelt" letter may have helped the student win a prestigious scholarship to Cambridge. 
• Huculak said using ChatGPT can help academics break the cycle of recycling old reference letters.

An academic at the University of Victoria in Canada used ChatGPT to help write a reference letter for a student — and the payoff was big, as was first reported by The Atlantic reported . 

Matt Huculak, the head of advanced research services at the university's libraries, asked ChatGPT to write an "excellent" reference letter for a student, who ended up getting into a graduate program at a "top-three" school in Canada. The student went on receive a prestigious scholarship from the University of Cambridge soon after, Huculak told Insider.

"Honestly, the ChatGPT generated letter was among some of the best letters I've read," Huculak said. "It was concise, it used "concrete" examples, it spoke to the candidate's ability to collaborate with others." 

He used the chatbot's response as a template of what not to write, as he knew the AI would suggest a tired and formulaic letter.

Huculak said he was pleasantly surprised with the final outcome. 

"What I wrote ended up feeling like the most 'human' and heartfelt letter I've written in a long time," he told The Atlantic. 

Huculak said that using ChatGPT helped him write a letter that was original. Professors, he said, tend to recycle past reference letters and tailor them to a particular student, which could produce dull letters. 

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"A formula, per se, isn't bad," Huculak told Insider. "But when a professor is invested in a student's success, you are always fighting the 'form' of expectations in order to show how unique your student is and why they will be successful at the institution to which they are applying." 

Repurposing old reference letters could help professors save time and even avoid the anxiety of an empty page. But using ChatGPT to generate the letters, Huculak said, can break the cycle.

He said it gave him the space to experiment with the writing in a way he didn't feel comfortable with before. After all, writing a reference letter, Huculak said, "is a tremendously difficult task" that he finds "anxiety producing." 

While, some colleges and schools around the world have banned ChatGPT out of fear that students will use it to cheat and plagiarize, Huculak is among academics who think the AI chatbot can make their jobs easier and boost students' productivity.

Stephanie Kane, a professor at George Mason University, said she used ChatGPT to come up with topics and concepts to include in her class syllabus, according to The Atlantic . Ethan Mollick, an entrepreneurship professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said he requires his students to use ChatGPT to generate project ideas and improve their writing.  

"This is going to save teachers a lot of work," Zak Cohen, a middle school director based in Louisville, Kentucky, told Insider when asked about ChatGPT.

For some, the results have been promising. Shannon Ahern, a high school math and science teacher, told Insider she uses ChatGPT to write lesson plans, generate exercise worksheets, and write quiz questions. It saved her the stress of working late into the night, she said. 

"Before using the AI, I stayed up late preparing class materials and would show up to class the next day feeling sluggish and tired," Ahern said. Now, I go to work feeling refreshed.

Huculak said he "will certainly continue to use" ChatGPT as part of a challenge to "really grasp what the student has accomplished."

"I think committees will quickly learn to spot ChatGPT letters," Huculak said. "It really is on reference writers to be more creative."

Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, has a global deal to allow OpenAI to train its models on its media brands' reporting.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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Mastering ChatGPT: The Ultimate Prompts Guide for Academic Writing Excellence

ChatGPT, with its advanced AI capabilities, has emerged as a game-changer for many. Yet, its true potential is unlocked when approached with the right queries. The prompts listed in this article have been crafted to optimize your interaction with this powerful tool. By leveraging them, you not only streamline your writing process but also enhance the quality of your research and insights. As we wrap up, we urge you not to take our word for it. Dive into the world of ChatGPT, armed with these prompts, and witness the transformation in your academic writing endeavors firsthand.

ChatGPT Prompts for Idea Generation

If you’re stuck or unsure where to begin, ChatGPT can help brainstorm ideas or topics for your paper, thesis, or dissertation.

• Suggest some potential topics on [your broader subject or theme] for an academic paper.
• Suggest some potential topics within the field of [your broader subject] related to [specific interest or theme].
• I’m exploring the field of [broader subject, e.g., “psychology”]. Could you suggest some topics that intersect with [specific interest, e.g., “child development”] and are relevant to [specific context or region, e.g., “urban settings in Asia”]?
• Within the realm of [broader subject, e.g., “philosophy”], I’m intrigued by [specific interest, e.g., “existentialism”]. Could you recommend topics that bridge it with [another field or theme, e.g., “modern technology”] in the context of [specific region or era, e.g., “21st-century Europe”]?
• Act as my brainstorming partner. I’m working on [your broader subject or theme]. What topics could be pertinent for an academic paper?
• Act as my brainstorming partner for a moment. Given the broader subject of [discipline, e.g., ‘sociology’], can you help generate ideas that intertwine with [specific theme or interest, e.g., ‘social media’] and cater to an audience primarily from [region or demographic, e.g., ‘South East Asia’]?

ChatGPT Prompts for Structuring Content

The model can provide suggestions for how to organize your content, including potential section headers, logical flow of arguments, etc.

• How should I structure my paper on [your specific topic]? Provide an outline or potential section headers.
• I’m writing a paper about [your specific topic]. How should I structure it and which sub-topics should I cover within [chosen section, e.g., “Literature Review”]?
• For a paper that discusses [specific topic, e.g., “climate change”], how should I structure the [chosen section, e.g., “Literature Review”] and integrate studies from [specific decade or period, e.g., “the 2010s”]?
• I’m compiling a paper on [specific topic, e.g., “biodiversity loss”]. How should I arrange the [chosen section, e.g., “Discussion”] to incorporate perspectives from [specific discipline, e.g., “socio-economics”] and findings from [specified region or ecosystem, e.g., “tropical rainforests”]?
• Act as an editor for a moment. Based on a paper about [your specific topic], how would you recommend I structure it? Are there key sections or elements I should include?
• Act as a structural consultant for my paper on [topic, e.g., ‘quantum physics’]. Could you suggest a logical flow and potential section headers, especially when I aim to cover aspects like [specific elements, e.g., ‘quantum entanglement and teleportation’]?
• Act as my editorial guide. For a paper focused on [specific topic, e.g., “quantum computing”], how might I structure my [chosen section, e.g., “Findings”]? Especially when integrating viewpoints from [specific discipline, e.g., “software engineering”] and case studies from [specified region, e.g., “East Asia”]?

ChatGPT Prompts for Proofreading

While it might not replace a human proofreader, ChatGPT can help you identify grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, or inconsistencies in your writing.

• Review this passage for grammatical or stylistic errors: [paste your text here].
• Review this paragraph from my [type of document, e.g., “thesis”] for grammatical or stylistic errors: [paste your text here].
• Please review this passage from my [type of document, e.g., “dissertation”] on [specific topic, e.g., “renewable energy”] for potential grammatical or stylistic errors: [paste your text here].
• Kindly scrutinize this segment from my [type of document, e.g., “journal article”] concerning [specific topic, e.g., “deep-sea exploration”]. Highlight any linguistic or structural missteps and suggest how it might better fit the style of [target publication or audience, e.g., “Nature Journal”]: [paste your text here].
• Act as my proofreader. In this passage: [paste your text here], are there any grammatical or stylistic errors I should be aware of?
• Act as my preliminary proofreader. I’ve drafted a section for my [type of document, e.g., “research proposal”] about [specific topic, e.g., “nanotechnology”]. I’d value feedback on grammar, coherence, and alignment with [target publication or style, e.g., “IEEE standards”]: [paste your text here].

ChatGPT Prompts for Citation Guidance

Need help formatting citations or understanding the nuances of different citation styles (like APA, MLA, Chicago)? ChatGPT can guide you.

• How do I format this citation in [desired style, e.g., APA, MLA]? Here’s the source: [paste source details here].
• I’m referencing a [type of source, e.g., “conference paper”] authored by [author’s name] in my document. How should I format this citation in the [desired style, e.g., “Chicago”] style?
• Act as a citation guide. I need to reference a [source type, e.g., ‘journal article’] for my work. How should I format this using the [citation style, e.g., ‘APA’] method?
• Act as my citation assistant. I’ve sourced a [type of source, e.g., “web article”] from [author’s name] published in [year, e.g., “2018”]. How should I present this in [desired style, e.g., “MLA”] format?

ChatGPT Prompts for Paraphrasing

If you’re trying to convey information from sources without plagiarizing, the model can assist in rephrasing the content.

• Can you help me paraphrase this statement? [paste your original statement here].
• Help me convey the following idea from [source author’s name] in my own words: [paste the original statement here].
• I’d like to reference an idea from [source author’s name]’s work on [specific topic, e.g., “quantum physics”]. Can you help me paraphrase this statement without losing its essence: [paste the original statement here]?
• Act as a wordsmith. I’d like a rephrased version of this statement without losing its essence: [paste your original statement here].
• Act as my rephraser. Here’s a statement from [author’s name]’s work on [topic, e.g., ‘cognitive development’]: [paste original statement here]. How can I convey this without plagiarizing?
• Act as my plagiarism prevention aid. I’d like to include insights from [source author’s name]’s research on [specific topic, e.g., “solar energy”]. Help me convey this in my own words while maintaining the tone of my [type of work, e.g., “doctoral thesis”]: [paste the original statement here].

ChatGPT Prompts for Vocabulary Enhancement

If you’re looking for more sophisticated or subject-specific terminology, ChatGPT can suggest synonyms or alternative phrasing.

• I want a more academic or sophisticated way to express this: [paste your sentence or phrase here].
• In the context of [specific field or subject], can you suggest a more academic way to express this phrase: [paste your phrase here]?
• I’m writing a paper in the field of [specific discipline, e.g., “bioinformatics”]. How can I convey this idea more academically: [paste your phrase here]?
• Within the purview of [specific discipline, e.g., “astrophysics”], I wish to enhance this assertion: [paste your phrase here]. What terminologies or phrasing would resonate more with an audience well-versed in [related field or topic, e.g., “stellar evolution”]?
• Act as my thesaurus. For this phrase: [paste your sentence or phrase here], is there a more academic or sophisticated term or phrase I could use?
• Act as a lexicon expert in [field, e.g., ‘neuroscience’]. How might I express this idea more aptly: [paste your phrase here]?

ChatGPT Prompts for Clarifying Concepts

If you’re working in a field that’s not your primary area of expertise, the model can provide explanations or definitions for unfamiliar terms or concepts.

• Can you explain the concept of [specific term or concept] in the context of academic research?
• In [specific field, e.g., “sociology”], what does [specific term or concept] mean? And how does it relate to [another term or concept]?
• In the realm of [specific discipline, e.g., “neuroscience”], how would you define [term or concept A], and how does it differentiate from [term or concept B]?
• Act as my tutor. I’m a bit lost on the concept of [specific term or concept]. Can you break it down for me in the context of [specific academic field]?
• Act as my academic tutor for a moment. I’ve encountered some challenging terms in [specific discipline, e.g., “metaphysics”]. Could you elucidate the distinctions between [term A], [term B], and [term C], especially when applied in [specific context or theory, e.g., “Kantian philosophy”]?

ChatGPT Prompts for Draft Review

You can share sections or excerpts of your draft, and ChatGPT can provide general feedback or points for consideration.

• Please provide feedback on this excerpt from my draft: [paste excerpt here].
• Could you review this excerpt from my [type of document, e.g., “research proposal”] and provide feedback on [specific aspect, e.g., “clarity and coherence”]: [paste excerpt here]?
• I’d appreciate feedback on this fragment from my [type of document, e.g., “policy analysis”] that centers on [specific topic, e.g., “renewable energy adoption”]. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on its [specific aspect, e.g., “argumentative flow”] and how it caters to [intended audience, e.g., “policy-makers in Southeast Asia”]: [paste excerpt here].
• Act as a reviewer for my journal submission. Could you critique this section of my draft: [paste excerpt here]?
• Act as my critique partner. I’ve written a segment for my [type of document, e.g., “literature review”] on [specific topic, e.g., “cognitive biases”]. Could you assess its [specific quality, e.g., “objectivity”], especially considering its importance for [target audience or application, e.g., “clinical psychologists”]: [paste excerpt here].

ChatGPT Prompts for Reference Pointers

If you’re looking for additional sources or literature on a topic, ChatGPT can point you to key papers, authors, or studies (though its knowledge is up to 2022, so it won’t have the latest publications).

• Can you recommend key papers or studies related to [your topic or research question]?
• I need references related to [specific topic] within the broader field of [your subject area]. Can you suggest key papers or authors?
• I’m researching [specific topic, e.g., “machine learning in healthcare”]. Can you suggest seminal works from the [specific decade, e.g., “2000s”] within the broader domain of [your general field, e.g., “computer science”]?
• My study orbits around [specific topic, e.g., “augmented reality in education”]. I’m especially keen on understanding its evolution during the [specific time frame, e.g., “late 2010s”]. Can you direct me to foundational papers or figures within [your overarching domain, e.g., “educational technology”]?
• Act as a literature guide. I’m diving into [your topic or research question]. Do you have suggestions for seminal papers or must-read studies?
• Act as my literary guide. My work revolves around [specific topic, e.g., “virtual reality in pedagogy”]. I’d appreciate direction towards key texts or experts from the [specific era, e.g., “early 2000s”], especially those that highlight applications in [specific setting, e.g., “higher education institutions”].

ChatGPT Prompts for Writing Prompts

For those facing writer’s block, ChatGPT can generate prompts or questions to help you think critically about your topic and stimulate your writing.

• I’m facing writer’s block on [your topic]. Can you give me some prompts or questions to stimulate my thinking?
• I’m writing about [specific topic] in the context of [broader theme or issue]. Can you give me questions that would enhance my discussion?
• I’m discussing [specific topic, e.g., “urban planning”] in relation to [another topic, e.g., “sustainable development”] in [specific region or country, e.g., “Latin America”]. Can you offer some thought-provoking prompts?
• Act as my muse. I’m struggling with [your topic]. Could you generate some prompts or lead questions to help steer my writing?
• Act as a muse for my writer’s block. Given the themes of [topic A, e.g., ‘climate change’] and its impact on [topic B, e.g., ‘marine ecosystems’], can you generate thought-provoking prompts?

ChatGPT Prompts for Thesis Statements

If you’re struggling with framing your thesis statement, ChatGPT can help you refine and articulate it more clearly.

• Help me refine this thesis statement for clarity and impact: [paste your thesis statement here].
• Here’s a draft thesis statement for my paper on [specific topic]: [paste your thesis statement]. How can it be made more compelling?
• I’m drafting a statement for my research on [specific topic, e.g., “cryptocurrency adoption”] in the context of [specific region, e.g., “European markets”]. Here’s my attempt: [paste your thesis statement]. Any suggestions for enhancement?
• Act as my thesis advisor. I’m shaping a statement on [topic, e.g., ‘blockchain in finance’]. Here’s my draft: [paste your thesis statement]. How might it be honed further?

ChatGPT Prompts for Abstract and Summary

The model can help in drafting, refining, or summarizing abstracts for your papers.

• Can you help me draft/summarize an abstract based on this content? [paste main points or brief content here].
• I’m submitting a paper to [specific conference or journal]. Can you help me summarize my findings from [paste main content or points] into a concise abstract?
• I’m aiming to condense my findings on [specific topic, e.g., “gene therapy”] from [source or dataset, e.g., “recent clinical trials”] into an abstract for [specific event, e.g., “a biotech conference”]. Can you assist?
• Act as an abstracting service. Based on the following content: [paste main points or brief content here], how might you draft or summarize an abstract?
• Act as my editorial assistant. I’ve compiled findings on [topic, e.g., ‘genetic modifications’] from my research. Help me craft or refine a concise abstract suitable for [event or publication, e.g., ‘an international biology conference’].

ChatGPT Prompts for Methodological Assistance

If you’re unsure about the methodology section of your paper, ChatGPT can provide insights or explanations about various research methods.

• I’m using [specific research method, e.g., qualitative interviews] for my study on [your topic]. Can you provide insights or potential pitfalls?
• For a study on [specific topic], I’m considering using [specific research method]. Can you explain its application and potential challenges in this context?
• I’m considering a study on [specific topic, e.g., “consumer behavior”] using [research method, e.g., “ethnographic studies”]. Given the demographic of [target group, e.g., “millennials in urban settings”], what might be the methodological challenges?
• My exploration of [specific topic, e.g., “consumer sentiment”] deploys [research method, e.g., “mixed-method analysis”]. Given my target demographic of [specific group, e.g., “online shoppers aged 18-25”], what are potential methodological challenges and best practices in [specific setting or platform, e.g., “e-commerce platforms”]?
• Act as a methodological counselor. I’m exploring [topic, e.g., ‘consumer behavior patterns’] using [research technique, e.g., ‘qualitative interviews’]. Given the scope of [specific context or dataset, e.g., ‘online retail platforms’], what insights can you offer?

ChatGPT Prompts for Language Translation

While not perfect, ChatGPT can assist in translating content to and from various languages, which might be helpful for non-native English speakers or when dealing with sources in other languages.

• Please translate this passage to [desired language]: [paste your text here].
• I’m integrating a passage for my research on [specific topic, e.g., “Mesoamerican civilizations”]. Could you assist in translating this content from [source language, e.g., “Nahuatl”] to [target language, e.g., “English”] while preserving academic rigor: [paste your text here]?
• Act as my translation assistant. I have this passage in [source language, e.g., ‘French’] about [topic, e.g., ‘European history’]: [paste your text here]. Can you render it in [target language, e.g., ‘English’] while maintaining academic integrity?

ChatGPT Prompts for Ethical Considerations

ChatGPT can provide a general overview of ethical considerations in research, though specific guidance should come from institutional review boards or ethics committees.

• What are some general ethical considerations when conducting research on [specific topic or population]?
• I’m conducting research involving [specific group or method, e.g., “minors” or “online surveys”]. What are key ethical considerations I should be aware of in the context of [specific discipline or field]?
• My investigation encompasses [specific method or technique, e.g., “genome editing”] on [target population or organism, e.g., “plant species”]. As I operate within the framework of [specific institution or body, e.g., “UNESCO guidelines”], what ethical imperatives should I foreground, especially when considering implications for [broader context, e.g., “global food security”]?
• Act as an ethics board member. I’m conducting research on [specific topic or population]. Could you outline key ethical considerations I should bear in mind?
• Act as an ethics overview guide. My research involves [specific technique or method, e.g., ‘live human trials’] in the realm of [specific discipline, e.g., ‘medical research’]. What general ethical considerations might be paramount, especially when targeting [specific population or group, e.g., ‘adolescents’]?

ChatGPT’s advanced AI capabilities have made it a standout tool in the world of academic writing. However, its real strength shines when paired with the right questions. The prompts in this article are tailored to optimize your experience with ChatGPT. By using them, you can streamline your writing and elevate the depth of your research. But don’t just take our word for it. Explore ChatGPT with these prompts and see the transformation in your academic writing for yourself. Excellent writing is just one prompt away.

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Impacts of ChatGPT-assisted writing for EFL English majors: Feasibility and challenges

• Published: 11 May 2024

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• Chung-You Tsai   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0527-1830 1 , 2 ,
• Yi-Ti Lin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0258-595X 3 &
• Iain Kelsall Brown   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-2792-7498 3  

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To determine the impacts of using ChatGPT to assist English as a foreign language (EFL) English college majors in revising essays and the possibility of leading to higher scores and potentially causing unfairness.

A prospective, double-blinded, paired-comparison study was conducted in Feb. 2023. A total of 44 students provided 44 original essays and 44 ChatGPT-assisted revised essays, which were rated by two independent graders in a randomized and crossover fashion to minimize grading bias. The original and revision scores were paired for before-after comparison. Eight control essays were also rated by both graders to ensure inter-rater reliability.

This study used a rigorous experimental design to confirm that ChatGPT-assisted revised essays led to significantly higher scores for EFL college English majors. Significant improvements were observed in all four dimensions of writing quality assessment, with the largest effects observed in vocabulary, followed by grammar, organization, and content. ChatGPT-assisted revised essays shifted the score curve from a normal distribution to a skewed distribution towards higher grades, with the greatest increase in revision scores seen among students who had lower original scores. This disproportionate improvement raises concerns about fairness in evaluation.

The findings suggest that ChatGPT is effective in providing timely feedback to EFL English majors in an affordable manner, but it also highlights the potential for unfairness in writing evaluation. We should note that ChatGPT-assisted revisions do not reveal learners’ writing competence. Therefore, new forms of writing performance assessment should be implemented in EFL composition classes in this AI era.

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Chung-You Tsai

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C.Y. Tsai contributed to study design, data analysis, and the first draft of the manuscript, while Y.T. Lin contributed to data acquisition, discussion, and critical revision as a corresponding author. I. Brown contributed to data acquisition.

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Tsai, CY., Lin, YT. & Brown, I.K. Impacts of ChatGPT-assisted writing for EFL English majors: Feasibility and challenges. Educ Inf Technol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12722-y

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New chatgpt updates from openai will benefit educators.

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Educators Will Benefit From The New ChatGPT Updates From OpenAI

Users of the free version of ChatGPT are in for a treat.

The OpenAI Spring Update event marked a significant milestone in democratizing AI. Most educators I work with around the world are using the free ChatGPT, utilizing the less capable GPT-3.5 AI model.

No longer is this the case.

Free users can now access intelligence previously reserved for Plus subscribers. This could have huge implications for education, work and global entrepreneurship.

Main Announcements

The star of the event was undoubtedly the launch of GPT-4o.

OpenAI has a new flagship AI model. GPT-4o brings the power of GPT-4 to everyone. They also unveiled a new desktop app for ChatGPT with an updated interface for a more intuitive experience.

While some were expecting OpenAI to take on Google with a new search engine, the company instead chose to focus on expanding the capabilities and accessibility of its conversational AI.

GPT-4o And Its Features

Reflecting its multimodal capabilities across text, voice, and vision, the "o" in GPT-4o stands for "omni."

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Ethan Mollick, associate professor at Wharton, explained on LinkedIn that the: "Biggest actual implication of today's OpenAI announcement is very practical: the top barrier I see when I give talks on using AI is that people don't pay for AI to start, and they use GPT-3.5 (the free model) and are disappointed. Now everyone around the world gets GPT-4 free."

Kunal Dalal from Orange County Department of Education in California agrees, writing on LinkedIn: "The biggest barrier to equity to using the leading AI model is now gone. This is as big as the original ChatGPT announcement in November 2022."

Christine Stoltz, a teacher at Baar School in Germany, wrote on LinkedIn that "free access to ChatGPT-4o for all students... offers greater educational equity."

GPT-4o boasts impressive features like native integration of text, voice, and vision for more natural interactions, real-time responsiveness and enhanced non-English language capabilities. Paid users get higher limits and early access to new features, while developers can use the API to deploy AI apps at scale.

Safety is a priority, too. Mira Murati, the chief technology officer of OpenAI, explained at the Spring Update event: "As we bring these technologies into the world, it is quite challenging to figure out how to do so in a way that is both useful and also safe. GPT-4o presents new challenges for us when it comes to safety because we are dealing with real time audio, real-time vision and our team has been hard at work figuring out how to build in mitigations against misuse."

Live Demos And Use Cases

Live demos showcased GPT-4o's prowess in real-time speech, visual analysis, problem-solving, code analysis and translation. The model's emotional awareness and dynamic voice range were on full display. GPT-4o demonstrated an impressive ability to understand human nuances, respond with wit and humor and even adjust its tone and style on request.

For educators, the announcement of free access to GPTs could be a game-changer. GPTs are AI agents trained by users to perform specific tasks and previously only available to paid users. Tim Mousel, professor at Lone Star College, could not contain his excitement on LinkedIn as he wrote: "The number one new feature that has me excited the most is public access to GPTs. GPTs can now be incorporated into the classroom."

Beyond education, GPT-4o's natural conversational abilities and multimodal understanding could pave the way for it to become the AI assistant teachers have always wanted (or feared). With its arrival on iPhone, Android, and desktop apps, GPT-4o might bring us closer to the futuristic AI experiences depicted in movies like "Her."

Availability

While GPT-4o is already available, the highly anticipated voice and video-based features showcased in the demos will be rolled out gradually. OpenAI plans to launch a new version of Voice Mode with GPT-4o in alpha within ChatGPT Plus in the coming weeks and support for GPT-4o's audio and video capabilities will initially be limited to a small group of trusted partners.

The ChatGPT apps for iOS, Android and the newly announced Mac app are also seeing a staggered rollout of GPT-4o. While the Mac app is being rolled out to Plus users first, with wider availability in the coming weeks, Windows users will have to wait a bit longer, with a planned release later this year.

Implications For Education

The implications of GPT-4o for education are profound, particularly considering the polarizing topic of AI use in school assignments. Matthew Wemyss from Cambridge School of Bucharest wrote on LinkedIn: "We need to rethink what we teach and how. We should focus on the knowledge and skills that will help students get the most out of this technology."

Emma Darcy from Denbigh High School in the UK paints a compelling picture: "If used properly, this could be what genuine inclusion looks like. A personalized tutor for every child. The ability for EAL learners to communicate seamlessly alongside their peers. The chance for visually impaired children to engage and interact with the world around them. A.I. that can recognize and adapt to emotion for those who are lonely or isolated. The implications for these new technologies are almost frightening in their sheer scope, size and scale, but you cannot afford not to engage with them - the possibilities are too profound."

OpenAI continues to push the boundaries of learning, as educators and society scramble to keep up. The spring update event has opened the door to a new era of accessible and powerful AI tools that could transform how we teach, learn and interact with technology.

The full potential of GPT-4o remains to be seen and its complete rollout may take some time. But it's clear that OpenAI is setting the stage for a future where AI is more integrated and accessible than ever before.

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