AI in Academic Writing: How to Know What’s Allowed and What Isn’t

I know plagiarism is wrong and it can get me into serious trouble. So I don’t plan to use AI to write my school papers for me. But is it okay if I type my class notes into ChatGPT and ask it to help me come up with ideas for topics? Can I copy passages from an article I’m reading and ask ChatGPT to help me understand it better? English is not my first language, so I need a lot of help getting through certain classes. But I don’t want to do anything dishonest.

— Efren

If you are a student and you’re looking for help with your academic work, you might be wondering if AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude might give you the support you need. But like Efren, you might also have concerns about how to use AI honestly. After all, nobody wants to be accused of cheating!

So let’s take a look at what’s allowed, what’s not, and how to avoid plagiarism when you’re using AI to help you with your academic writing.

AI should be a study partner, not a substitute for your brain!

Most secondary schools and universities now recognize that AI can be a helpful tool when students use it wisely. Some teachers will allow you to use AI to clarify difficult passages in your class readings, make an outline for a paper, organize your points for a presentation, or brainstorm ideas.

In these cases, the AI acts like a study partner. It helps you express your thoughts more clearly and correctly, but the ideas still come from you. As long as your final paper or presentation reflects your own understanding and original ideas, a little help from an AI tool is usually allowed.

However, “usually” does not mean “always”. It’s best to ask your professor before you use AI to help you with your writing assignments. For example, some teachers might be okay with what Efren is describing in his note, but other teachers might not be.

When does AI writing cross the line?

Problems with AI-generated writing arise when a student lets the robot do too much of their work. Submitting AI-written essays, copying paragraphs directly from ChatGPT, or using AI to paraphrase entire sections of other people’s work crosses the line into academic misconduct. Naturally, your professors will not allow that!

In most schools, this kind of AI misuse is treated the same way as plagiarism. The consequences can range from grade reduction to expulsion.

Think about what you are typing into the AI tool. Do your prompts include your own notes, your own ideas, and your own research? Or are you asking the AI to find information about your topic and do your assignment with very little input from you? Will you be able to explain every sentence in your paper if your professor asks you how you wrote it? Your answers to these questions can help you determine whether you are relying too heavily on AI.

Did you know that new forms of plagiarism have arisen because of AI?

Before the advent of ChatGPT and similar AI tools, plagiarism was more straightforward. Students copied material they found online or in books, pretending they had actually written it themselves. Some even paid others to write their academic papers for them.

These “old school” forms of plagiarism still exist. But with AI tools so readily available, plagiarism has taken on new forms.

1. Direct AI plagiarism: Submitting content written entirely by AI without disclosure.
2. Indirect plagiarism: Copying someone else’s material, pasting it into AI, and then asking the AI to rephrase it.

Keep in mind, whenever AI creates “original” sentences, they are based on patterns the robot has learned from existing texts. (Here is a TextRanch blog article that explains how AI language models work.) This means your “new” paragraph might echo someone else’s writing.

Furthermore, AI tools tend to use the same phrases and sentence structures over and over again. Since ChatGPT has been around for over two years, many educators have become familiar with its writing patterns and they will recognize them if they pop up in your assignments.

 

Why does it matter?

It can be tempting to let AI do the hard work, especially when you’re writing in your second language or rushing to meet a tight deadline. But the real goal of academic writing is to show your own understanding. Your teachers want to see what you know and what you can do, not what a robot can do.

AI can’t develop your reasoning, interpret research findings, give you an in-depth understanding of your course materials, or form opinions for you. It can only mimic patterns of good writing. Even then, a well-written AI-generated text is at about the same level as a magazine you’d find at a supermarket check-out counter, not a scholarly work authored by an expert in your field.

How can you use AI responsibly in your academic writing?

Here’s how to make the most of AI tools while keeping your integrity intact:

• Check your professor’s AI policy. Don’t assume that what’s allowed elsewhere applies to your course. Always find out!
• Be transparent. If you’ve used AI in a way that your professor has deemed acceptable, you should still mention it, the same as you would cite other sources you have used.
• Fact-check everything. AI can hallucinate “facts,” citations, and quotes. Sometimes it’s just plain wrong.
• Keep your own voice. If you rely too heavily on AI, your writing will lose its unique qualities. You’ll sound the same as everyone else who is using the same AI tool.
• If you are truly struggling with your writing, give the robots a rest and get help from a real human!

TextRanch now offers two new services designed especially for AI-generated writing. They can both be used for business or academic purposes.

Human Check: One of our TextRanch editors will go over your text and make sure the tone and content are safe and appropriate for your needs. If something sounds “off”, we’ll let you know!
Humanize AI: This service is ideal for students who are using AI responsibly and want to fix any leftover AI-generated passages in their writing. We will edit your text on a deeper level and make sure it sounds authentic, original, and genuinely human.

At TextRanch, your writing is reviewed by real human editors, not robots. Our editors are located in time zones around the world, which means we’re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Click the blue box below to learn more!

Do you have any experiences with AI that you would like to share? What topics would you like us to cover in future blog articles? Scroll down to leave your comments.