chatgpt for essay writing reddit

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

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

5 ways ai can help you study for finals - for free, the best ai chatbots: chatgpt isn't the only one worth trying.

Celebrating 150 years of Harvard Summer School. Learn about our history.

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.

Explore Our High School Programs

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.

Sign up to our mailing list to learn more about Harvard Summer School

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.

5 Key Qualities of Students Who Succeed at Harvard Summer School (and in College!)

This guide outlines the kinds of students who thrive at Harvard Summer School and what the programs offer in return.

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

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. 

Related Articles

Navigation Menu

Search code, repositories, users, issues, pull requests..., provide feedback.

We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously.

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly.

To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation .

• Notifications

This list of writing prompts covers a range of topics and tasks, including brainstorming research ideas, improving language and style, conducting literature reviews, and developing research plans.

ahmetbersoz/chatgpt-prompts-for-academic-writing

Folders and files, repository files navigation.

✨ NEW UPDATE: Literature Review Generator

A Custom GPT for Literature Review Generator has been released. It efficiently parses PDF files of research publications, extracts key themes, and creates a literature review section for your academic publications.

TRY NOW: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-G3U8pZGwC-literature-review-generator

ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing

In this repository, this list of writing prompts covers a range of topics and tasks, including brainstorming research ideas, improving language and style, conducting literature reviews, and developing research plans. Whether you're a student, researcher, or academic professional, these prompts can help you hone your writing abilities and tackle your writing projects with confidence.

Use directly in: chat.openai.com

The list is regularly updated, so you can keep track of new prompts by following this repository.

TIPS: As there is a limit to the number of words that can be used in ChatGPT, you can input your text multiple times using the prompt "Read this [PARAPGRAPH]:" and then run your final prompt "Considering the above text...".

You can also use prompts splitter: chatgpt-prompt-splitter.jjdiaz.dev

BRAINSTORMING

Article sections, title/topic sentence, introduction, literature review.

NOTE: Be careful and double-check article existence. ChatGPT may generate fake references

Methodology

Experiments, future works, improving language, summarization, plan/presentation, working with documents (available only in gpt-4).

Upload a PDF file of a paper then:

Upload a PDF file of your paper then:

Upload PDF files of papers then:

Upload a figure image then:

Contributors 4

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, can you use chatgpt for your college essay.

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.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 28 October 2023

ChatGPT-3.5 as writing assistance in students’ essays

• Željana Bašić 1 ,
• Ana Banovac 1 ,
• Ivana Kružić 1 &
• Ivan Jerković 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  750 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

15k Accesses

6 Citations

27 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Science, technology and society

ChatGPT-3.5, an AI language model capable of text generation, translation, summarization, and question-answering, has recently been released for public use. Studies have shown it can generate abstracts, research papers, and dissertations, and create quality essays on different topics. This led to ethical issues in using ChatGPT in academic writing, AI authorship, and evaluating students’ essays. However, it is still unknown how ChatGPT performs in students’ environments as a writing assistant tool and if it enhances students’ essay-writing performance. In the present study, we examined students’ essay-writing performances with or without ChatGPT as an essay-writing assistance tool. The average essay grade was C for both control (traditional essay-writing, n  = 9) and experimental (ChatGPT-assisted essay-writing, n  = 9) groups. None of the predictors affected essay scores: group, writing duration, study module, and GPA. The text unauthenticity was slightly higher in the experimental group, but the similarity among essays was generally low in the overall sample. In the experimental group, the AI classifier recognized more potential AI-generated texts. Our results demonstrate that the ChatGPT group did not perform better in either of the indicators; the students did not deliver higher quality content, did not write faster, nor had a higher degree of authentic text. We anticipate that these results can relieve some concerns about this tool’s usage in academic writing. ChatGPT-assisted writing could depend on the previous knowledge and skills of the user, which might, in certain instances, lead to confusion in inexperienced users and result in poorer essay writing performance.

Similar content being viewed by others

A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays

Perception, performance, and detectability of conversational artificial intelligence across 32 university courses

Artificial intelligence in studies—use of chatgpt and ai-based tools among students in germany, introduction.

November 30, 2022, will go down in history as the date when a free version of the AI language model created by OpenAI called ChatGPT-3.5 (OpenAI, 2022 ) (in further text ChatGPT) was made available for public usage. This language model’s functions encompass text generation, answering questions, and completing tasks such as translation and summarization (Agomuoh, 2023 ).

ChatGPT can be employed as assistance in the world of academia. It can improve writing skills since it is trained to deliver feedback on style, coherence, and grammar (Aljanabi et al., 2023 ), extract key points, and provide citations (Aydin and Karaarslan, 2022 ). This could increase the efficiency of researchers, allowing them to concentrate on more crucial activities (e.g., analysis and interpretation). This has been supported by studies showing that ChatGPT could generate abstracts (Gao et al., 2023 ; Ma et al., 2023 ), high-quality research papers (Kung et al., 2023 ), dissertations, and essays (Aljanabi et al., 2023 ). Previous studies showed that ChatGPT could create quality essays on different topics (Hoang, 2023 ; Hoang et al., 2023 ; Nguyen and La; 2023 ; Nguyen and Le, 2023a , Nguyen and Le, 2023b , Susnjak, 2023 ). For example, this program, in conjunction with DaVinci-003, generated high-quality short-form essays on Physics, which would be awarded First Class, the highest grade in the UK higher education system (Yeadon et al., 2023 ). It also led to questions on the ethics of using ChatGPT in different forms of academic writing, the AI authorship (Bishop, 2023 ; Grimaldi and Ehrler, 2023 ; Kung et al., 2023 ; Pourhoseingholi et al., 2023 ; Xiao, 2023 ), and raised issues of evaluating academic tasks like students’ essays (Stokel-Walker, 2022 ; Whitford, 2022 ). Unavoidable content plagiarism issues were discussed, and solutions for adapting essay settings and guidelines were revised (Cotton et al., 2023 ; Hoang, 2023 ; Lo, 2023 ; Sallam, 2023 ; Stokel-Walker, 2022 ; Yeadon et al., 2023 ). A recent SWOT analysis of ChatGPT’s impact on education comprehensively analyzed all the mentioned issues. Strengths included advanced natural language generation, self-improvement, and personalized feedback, with potential benefits in information accessibility, personalized learning, and reduced teaching workload. Weaknesses encompassed limited understanding of the topic, inability to critically evaluate information, response quality evaluation challenges, bias risks, and a lack of higher-order thinking. Threats included contextual limitations, academic integrity risks, discrimination perpetuation, increased plagiarism, etc. (Farrokhnia et al., 2023 ).

As argumentative essays are one of the most advanced students’ tasks in higher education, and as such pose a challenge for students (Latifi et al., 2021 ), one of the ways where ChatGPT could be tested is essay writing. Such essays empower students’ ability to give an argument and build confidence in their knowledge preparing them not only for the academic environment but also for real-life situations (Valero Haro et al., 2022 ; Heitmann et al., 2014 ). A previous study showed that students need further development of argumentation competencies, as they demonstrated externalization issues with argumentation that did not differ if they worked in groups or individually. The results suggest that students experience problems in externalizing their argumentation knowledge both at the individual (argumentative essay) and collaborative levels (argumentative discourse), and that they need to further develop their argumentation competence (Banihashem et al., 2023a ; Banihashem et al., 2023b ; Kerman et al., 2023 ; Ranjbaran et al., 2023 ). However, it is still unknown how ChatGPT performs in students’ environment as a writing assistant tool and does it enhance students’ performance. Thus, this research investigated whether ChatGPT would improve students’ essay grades, reduce writing time, and affect text authenticity.

Materials and methods

We invited the second-year master’s students from the University Department of Forensic Sciences, to voluntarily participate in research on essay writing as a part of the course Forensic Sciences seminar. Out of 50 students enrolled in the course, 18 applied by web form and participated in the study. Before the experiment, we divided them into two groups according to the study module and the weighted grade point average (GPA) to ensure a similar composition of the groups. The control group ( n  = 9, GPA = 3.92 ± 0.46) wrote the essay traditionally, while the experimental group ( n  = 9, GPA = 3.92 ± 0.57) used ChatGPT assistance, version 2.1.0. (OpenAI, 2022 ).

We explained the essay scoring methodology (Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence ( 2023 )) to both groups, with written instructions about the essay title (The advantages and disadvantages of biometric identification in forensic sciences), length of the essay (800–1000 words in a Croatian language), formatting, and citation style (Vancouver). We introduced the experimental group to the ChatGPT tool which included a brief explanation of the tool, and an example of entering the prompt about their essay-unrelated issue. They were instructed to use the tool freely, without any limitations (e.g., for creating a complete essay, for concept drafting, for specific topic-related questions, for corrections and suggestions, etc.). We did not demand students to submit the prompts they used and the responses they received. All students had four hours to finish the task and could leave whenever they wanted. The control group was additionally supervised to ensure they did not use the ChatGPT. The students’ names were coded to assure the individual and group anonymity and prevent grading bias.

Two teachers graded the essays (ŽB, associate professor, and IJ, assistant professor). The teachers compared the grades, and if their scoring differed the final grade was decided by the consensus. We used the essay rubrics from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Pennsylvania State University ( http://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/pdf/suanne_general_resource_WritingRubric.pdf ), that included the following criteria (mechanics, style, content, and format) and grades from A to D (Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence ( 2023 )). We converted categorical grades to numbers (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1) for further analysis. For each student, we recorded writing time.

We checked the authenticity of each document using PlagScan ( 2022 ), and conducted the pairwise comparison for document similarity using R studio (ver. 1.2.5033) and package Textreuse (Mullen, 2015 ) using the Jaccard similarity index. We checked the content using an AI text classifier to test if a human or an AI created the text. According to this classifier, text was scored as very unlikely, unlikely, unclear, possibly, and likely that it was AI-generated (OpenAI, 2023 ). We opted for this package after similar programs (OpenAI, 2022 ; Goal and ChatGPT, 2023 ; Debut et al., 2023 ) did not recognize a ChatGPT-generated text in a non-English language as AI-assisted text.

Statistical analysis and visualization were conducted using Excel (Microsoft Office ver. 2301) and R Studio (ver. 1.2.5033). The final essay score was calculated as an average of four grading elements (mechanics, style, content, and format). The linear regression was used to test the effects of group, writing duration, module, and GPA on overall essay scores. The level of statistical significance was set at P  ≤ 0.05.

The duration of the essay writing for the ChatGPT-assisted group was 172.22 ± 31.59, and for the control, 179.11 ± 31.93 min. ChatGPT and control group, on average, obtained grade C, with a slightly higher average score in the control (2.39 ± 0.71) than in the ChatGPT group (2.00 ± 0.73) (Fig. 1A ). The mean of text unauthenticity was 11.87% ± 13.45 in the ChatGPT-assisted group and 9.96% ± 9.81% in the control group. The text similarity in the overall sample was low (Supplementary Table 1 ), with a median value of the Jaccard similarity index of 0.002 (0–0.054). The AI text classifier showed that, in the control group, two texts were possibly, one likely generated by AI, two were unlikely created by AI, and four cases were unclear. The ChatGPT group had three possible and five cases likely produced by AI, while one case was labeled as unclear.

A Average essay scores, B Duration and essay scores, C GPA and essay scores, D Text authenticity and essay scores.

Figure 1B, C implies a positive association between duration and GPA with essay scores. Students with higher GPAs in the control group achieved higher scores than those in the ChatGPT group. The association of essay scores and non-authentic text proportion (Fig. 1D ) was detected only in the ChatGPT group, where the students with more non-authentic text achieved lower essay scores.

The linear regression model showed a moderate positive relationship between the four predictors and the overall essay score ( R  = 0.573; P  = 0.237). However, none of the predictors had a significant effect on the outcome: group ( P  = 0.184), writing duration ( P  = 0.669), module ( P  = 0.388), and GPA ( P  = 0.532).

As we are aware, this is the first study that tested ChatGPT-3.5 as an essay-writing assistance tool in a student population sample. Our study showed that the ChatGPT group did not perform better than the control group in either of the indicators; the students did not deliver higher quality content, did not write faster, nor had a higher degree of authentic text.

The overall essay score was slightly better in the control group, which could probably result from the students in the experimental group over-reliance on the tool or being unfamiliar with it. This was in line with Fyfe’s study on writing students’ essays using ChatGPT-2, where students reported that it was harder to write using the tool than by themselves (Fyfe, 2022 ). This issue is presented in the study of Farrokhnia et al., where the authors pointed out the ChatGPT weakness of not having a deep understanding of the topic, which, in conjunction with students’ lack of knowledge, could lead to dubious results (Farrokhnia et al., 2023 ). Students also raised the question of not knowing the sources of generated text which additionally distracted them in writing task (Fyfe, 2022 ). It is noteworthy that both groups obtained an average grade of C, which can be explained by other studies that argued that students’ writing lacks solid argumentation both when writing in general or when writing argumentative essays (Banihashem et al., 2023a ; Banihashem et al., 2023b ; Kerman et al., 2023 ; Farrokhnia et al., 2023 ; Ranjbaran et al., 2023 ). This demanding task could have been even more difficult when using ChatGPT, which could stem from several already mentioned issues like unfamiliarity when using ChatGPT and additional time requirements to link ChatGPT-created content and/or information with real literature sources.

Some studies did show more promising results (Hoang, 2023 ; Hoang et al., 2023 ; Nguyen and La; 2023 ; Nguyen and Le, 2023a , Nguyen and Le, 2023b , Susnjak, 2023 ; Yeadon et al., 2023 ), but unlike our study, they were mainly based on ChatGPT and experienced researcher interaction. This could be a reason for the lower performance of our ChatGPT group, as the experienced researchers are more skilled in formulating questions, guiding the program to obtain better-quality information, and critically evaluating the content.

The other interesting finding is that the use of ChatGPT did not accelerate essay writing and that the students of both groups required a similar amount of time to complete the task. As expected, the longer writing time in both groups related to the better essay score. This finding could also be explained by students’ feedback from Fyfe’s ( 2022 ) study, where they specifically reported difficulties combining the generated text and their style. So, although ChatGPT could accelerate writing in the first phase, it requires more time to finalize the task and assemble content.

Our experimental group had slightly more problems with plagiarism than the control group. Fyfe ( 2022 ) also showed that his students felt uncomfortable writing and submitting the task since they felt they were cheating and plagiarizing. However, a pairwise comparison of essays in our study did not reveal remarkable similarities, indicating that students had different reasoning and styles, regardless of whether they were using ChatGPT. This could also imply that applying the tool for writing assistance produces different outcomes for the same task, depending on the user’s input (Yeadon et al., 2023 ).

The available ChatGPT text detector (Farrokhnia et al., 2023 ) did not perform well, giving false positive results in the control group. Most classifiers are intended for English and usually have disclaimers for performance in other languages. This raises the necessity of improving existing algorithms for different languages or developing language-specific ones.

The main concern of using ChatGPT in academic writing has been the unauthenticity (Cotton et al., 2023 ; Susnjak, 2023 ; Yeadon et al., 2023 ), but we believe that such tools will not increase the non-originality of the published content or students’ assignments. The detectors of AI-generated text are developing daily, and it is only a matter of time before highly reliable tools are available. While our findings suggest no immediate need for significant concern regarding the application of ChatGPT in students’ writing, it is crucial to acknowledge that this study’s design reflects real-life situations of using ChatGPT as a convenient and rapid solution to submit assignments, potentially at the expense of the overall quality of their work. This issue remains an important consideration when assessing the broader implications of our study.

The main drawback of this study is the limited sample size (9 per group) which does not permit the generalization of the findings or a more comprehensive statistical approach. One of the limitations could also be language-specificity (students wrote in native, non-English language for their convenience), which disabled us from the full application of AI detection tools. We should also consider that ChatGPT is predominantly fed with English content, so we cannot exclude the possibility that writing in English could have generated higher-quality information. Lastly, this was our students’ first interaction with ChatGPT, so it is possible that lack of experience as well as inadequate training in using AI language models also affected their performance. Therefore, it is crucial to exercise caution when generalizing these findings, as they may not necessarily reflect the experiences of a broader range of ChatGPT users, who often report rapid draft generation. Future studies should therefore expand the sample size, number, and conditions of experiments, include students of different profiles, and extend the number of variables that could generally relate to writing skills. Also, it would be useful to conduct a study that would analyze the quality and depth of the students’ prompts to ChatGPT, as it seems that the question type and the feedback provided by the user could remarkably affect the final result (Farrokhnia et al., 2023 ).

However, the academia and media concern about this tool might be unjustified, as, in our example, the ChatGPT was found to perform similarly to any web-based search: the more you know—the more you will find. In some ways, instead of providing structure and facilitating writing, it could distract students and make them underperform.

Data availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.

Agomuoh F (2023) ChatGPT: how to use the viral AI chatbot that took the world by storm. Digital Trends. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-use-openai-chatgpt-text-generation-chatbot/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Aljanabi M, Ghazi M, Ali AH et al. (2023) ChatGpt: Open Possibilities. Iraqi J Comput Sci Math 4(1):62–64. https://doi.org/10.52866/20ijcsm.2023.01.01.0018

Article   Google Scholar  

Aydin Ö, Karaarslan E (2022) OpenAI ChatGPT generated literature review: digital twin in healthcare. Emerg Comput Technol 2:22–31. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4308687

Banihashem SK, Noroozi O, den Brok P et al. (2023a) Identifying student profiles based on their attitudes and beliefs towards online education and exploring relations with their experiences and background. Innov Educ Teach Int 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2227616

Banihashem SK, Noroozi O, den Brok P et al. (2023b) Modeling teachers’ and students’ attitudes, emotions, and perceptions in blended education: Towards post-pandemic education. Int J Manag Educ 21(2):100803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2023.100803

Bishop LA (2023) Computer wrote this paper: what ChatGPT means for education, research, and writing. Res Writ. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4338981

Cotton DRE, Cotton PA, Shipway JR (2023) Chatting and cheating: ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT. Innov Educ Teach Int 00:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148

Debut L, Kim JW, Wu J (2023) RoBERTa-based GPT-2 Output Detector from OpenAI. https://openai-openai-detector.hf.space/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Farrokhnia M, Banihashem SK, Noroozi O et al. (2023) A SWOT analysis of ChatGPT: implications for educational practice and research. Innov Educ Teach Int 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2195846

Fyfe P (2022) How to cheat on your final paper: assigning AI for student writing. AI Soc 38:1395–1405. https://doi.org/10.17613/0h18-5p41

Gao CA, Howard FM, Markov NS et al. (2023) Comparing scientific abstracts generated by ChatGPT to real abstracts with detectors and blinded human reviewers. NPJ Digit Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-023-00819-6

Goal D, ChatGPT (2023) GPT3 content detector. https://detector.dng.ai/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Grimaldi G, Ehrler B (2023) AI et al.: machines are about to change scientific publishing forever. ACS Energy Lett 8(1):878–880. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.2c02828

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Heitmann P, Hecht M, Schwanewedel J et al. (2014) Students’argumentative writing skills in science and first-language education: Commonalities and differences. Int J Sci Educ 36(18):3148–3170. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2014.962644

Hoang G (2023) Academic writing and AI: Day-5 experiment with cultural additivity. https://osf.io/u3cjx/download

Hoang G, Nguyen M, Le T (2023) Academic writing and AI: Day-3 experiment with environmental semi-conducting principle. https://osf.io/2qbea/download

Kerman NT, Banihashem SK, Noroozi O (2023) The relationship among students’ attitude towards peer feedback, peer feedback performance, and uptake. in the power of peer learning: fostering students’ learning processes and outcomes. Springer, p. 347–371. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29411-2_16

Kung TH, Cheatham M, Medenilla A et al. (2023) Performance of ChatGPT on USMLE: potential for AI-assisted medical education using large language models. PLOS Digit Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000198

Latifi S, Noroozi O, Talaee E (2021) Peer feedback or peer feedforward? Enhancing students’ argumentative peer learning processes and outcomes. Br J Educ Technol 52:768–784. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13054

Lo CK (2023) What is the impact of ChatGPT on education? A rapid review of the literature. Educ Sci 13(4):410. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040410

Ma Y, Liu J, Yi F (2023) Is this abstract generated by AI? A research for the gap between AI-generated scientific text and human-written scientific text. Preprint at arXiv . https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.10416

Mullen L (2015) Package ‘textreuse’. https://mran.revolutionanalytics.com/snapshot/2016-03-22/web/packages/textreuse/textreuse.pdf . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Nguyen M, Le T (2023a) Academic writing and AI: Day-2 experiment with Bayesian Mindsponge Framework. https://osf.io/kr29c/download . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Nguyen M, Le T (2023b) Academic writing and AI: Day-1 experiment. https://osf.io/kr29c/download . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Nguyen Q, La V (2023) Academic writing and AI: Day-4 experiment with mindsponge theory. OSF Prepr awysc, Cent Open Sci. https://osf.io/download/63c551a4774ea80319ad67ba/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

OpenAI (2022) Optimizing language models for dialogue. https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

OpenAI (2023) AI text classifier. https://platform.openai.com/ai-text-classifier . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

PlagScan (2022) http://www.plagscan.com/plagiarism-check/ . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Pourhoseingholi MA, Hatamnejad MR, Solhpour A (2023) Does chatGPT (or any other artificial intelligence language tools) deserve to be included in authorship list? chatGPT and authorship. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 16(1):435–437

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Ranjbaran F, Babaee M, Akhteh Khaneh MP et al. (2023) Students’ argumentation performance in online learning environments: Bridging culture and gender. Int J Technol Educ 6:434–454. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.460

Sallam M (2023) ChatGPT utility in healthcare education, research, and practice: systematic review on the promising perspectives and valid concerns. Healthcare. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060887

Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Writing rubric example. http://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/pdf/suanne_general_resource_WritingRubric.pdf . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Stokel-Walker C (2022) AI bot ChatGPT writes smart essays—should professors worry? Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04397-7

Susnjak T (2023) ChatGPT: the end of online exam integrity? Preprint at arXiv . https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2212.09292

Valero Haro A, Noroozi A, Biemans O et al. (2022) Argumentation Competence: students’ argumentation knowledge, behavior and attitude and their relationships with domain-specific knowledge acquisition. J Constr Psychol 135(1):123–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2020.1734995

Whitford E (2022) Here’s how Forbes got the ChatGPT AI to write 2 college essays in 20 min Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2022/12/09/heres-how-forbes-got-the-chatgpt-ai-to-write-2-college-essays-in-20-minutes/?sh=7be402d956ad . Accessed 10 Oct 2023

Xiao Y (2023) Decoding authorship: is there really no place for an algorithmic author under copyright law? International Rev Intellect Prop Compet Law 54:5–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-022-01269-5

Yeadon W, Inyang O, Mizouri A et al. (2023) The death of the short-form physics essay in the coming AI revolution. Phys Educ 58(3):035027. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/acc5cf

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 33, 21000, Split, Croatia

Željana Bašić, Ana Banovac, Ivana Kružić & Ivan Jerković

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors have contributed equally.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Banovac .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The study was retrospectively approved by the Ethical Committee of the University Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Split, Croatia (053-01/23-01/12; 1, 3/8/2023). The research was performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Research participants were not subjected to harm in any way whatsoever. Respect for the dignity of research participants was prioritized.

Informed consent

Full consent was obtained from the participants. Before the study participants signed the informed consent and were given a separate sheet to write their names and password, which enabled anonymity while grading essays and further analysis of student-specific variables. The protection of the privacy of research participants has been ensured.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary table 1, chatgpt_raw_data, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Bašić, Ž., Banovac, A., Kružić, I. et al. ChatGPT-3.5 as writing assistance in students’ essays. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 750 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02269-7

Download citation

Received : 23 February 2023

Accepted : 11 October 2023

Published : 28 October 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02269-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Have a thesis expert improve your writing

Check your thesis for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Using AI tools

• How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples

Published on 26 June 2023 by Koen Driessen .

Passing off AI-generated text as your own work is widely considered plagiarism. However, when used correctly, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can legitimately help guide your writing process.

These tools are especially helpful in the preparation and revision stages of your essay writing.

You can use ChatGPT to:

• Write a research question
• Develop an outline
• Find relevant source information
• Summarise or paraphrase text
• Get feedback

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Table of contents

Writing a research question, developing an outline, finding source recommendations, summarising/paraphrasing text, getting feedback, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

You can use ChatGPT to brainstorm potential research questions or to narrow down your thesis statement . Begin by inputting a description of the research topic or assigned question. Then include a prompt like “Write 3 possible research questions on this topic”.

You can make the prompt as specific as you like. For example, you can include the writing level (e.g., high school essay, college essay), perspective (e.g., first person) and the type of essay you intend to write (e.g., argumentative , descriptive , expository , or narrative ).

You can also mention any facts or viewpoints you’ve gathered that should be incorporated into the output.

If the output doesn’t suit your topic, you can click “Regenerate response” to have the tool generate a new response. You can do this as many times as you like, and you can try making your prompt more specific if you struggle to get the results you want.

Example: Using ChatGPT to write a research question

• Generate three possible research questions for an argumentative high school essay on the following topic: “The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
• To what extent has the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated existing social inequalities and what measures can be taken to address these disparities in the long term?
• How has the Covid-19 pandemic transformed education systems, and what are the potential long-term implications for students’ learning outcomes and educational equity?
• What lessons can be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance global preparedness and response to future public health crises, and how can these lessons be effectively implemented in the long term?
• Based on the second question, develop three further research questions with a specific focus on distance learning.
• What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance, motivation, and overall educational outcomes?
• How has the shift to distance learning impacted the social and emotional well-being of students, and what strategies can be implemented to address any negative consequences in the long term?
• What are the key factors that contribute to the success of distance learning programs, and how can educational institutions and policymakers ensure equitable access to quality education in the long term, especially for marginalized and underserved student populations?

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

Once you’ve decided on a research question, you can use ChatGPT to develop an essay outline . This can help keep you on track by giving you a clear idea of what topics you want to discuss and in what order.

Do this by prompting ChatGPT to create an outline for a specific research question, mentioning any topics or points you want to discuss. You can also mention the writing level and the intended length of your essay so that the tool generates an appropriate outline.

You can then refine this by further prompting ChatGPT or editing the outline manually until it meets your requirements.

Examples: Using ChatGPT to generate an essay outline

• Develop an outline for an argumentative high school essay with the following research question: “What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes?”The essay will be about 4 pages long.
• Background information on the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to distance learning
• Thesis statement: The widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has had both positive and negative long-term effects on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes.
• Increased flexibility and personalized learning opportunities
• Access to a wider range of resources and educational materials
• Development of self-directed learning skills
• Critiques and limitations of previous studies
• Lack of face-to-face interaction and reduced social engagement
• Increased potential for distractions and lack of structure
• Technological barriers and unequal access to resources
• Examination of studies and data on academic achievement during distance learning
• Analysis of long-term effects on educational attainment and future opportunities
• Discussion of potential implications for college admissions and career readiness
• Strategies for promoting student engagement and motivation in distance learning
• Importance of teacher-student communication and support
• Addressing technological disparities and ensuring equitable access to resources
• Recap of the main points discussed
• Emphasize the need for further research and long-term planning to optimize distance learning experiences
• Restate the thesis and provide a final thought on the potential long-term effects of distance learning on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes

Once you know the scope of your essay, you can find relevant primary and secondary sources to support your argument.

However, we don’t recommend prompting ChatGPT to generate a list of sources as it occasionally makes mistakes (like listing nonexistent sources). Instead, it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT to get suggestions for the types of sources relevant to your essay and track them down using a credible research database or your institution’s library.

When you have found relevant sources, use a specialised tool like the Scribbr Citation Generator to cite them in your essay.

Example: Using ChatGPT to find sources

• What types of sources can I use to write an essay on the following research question?”What are the long-term effects of widespread adoption of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on students’ academic performance and overall educational outcomes?”
• Academic Journals and Research Articles: Look for scholarly articles and research studies published in peer-reviewed academic journals. These sources often provide in-depth analysis, empirical evidence, and statistical data on the long-term effects of distance learning.
• Educational and Government Reports: Reports published by educational institutions, government agencies, or educational organizations can offer valuable insights into the impact of distance learning on academic performance and educational outcomes. These reports may include surveys, case studies, and data analysis specific to the Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning.
• Official Websites and Publications: Explore the official websites of educational institutions, education ministries, or educational technology companies. They often publish articles, white papers, or research findings related to distance learning and its effects on students’ academic performance.
• Expert Interviews or Opinion Pieces: Seek out interviews or opinion pieces from experts in the field of education, distance learning, or pedagogy. These sources can provide valuable perspectives and insights on the long-term effects of distance learning on students’ educational outcomes.
• Online Databases and Digital Libraries: Utilize online databases and digital libraries such as JSTOR, Google Scholar, or academic databases provided by your educational institution. These platforms offer a wide range of scholarly articles, research papers, and publications that can support your arguments.
• Surveys and Studies Conducted by Educational Institutions: Some schools or universities may have conducted their own surveys or studies to evaluate the impact of distance learning on students. Check if your educational institution has published any research findings or survey results that are relevant to your topic.

During your writing process, you can use ChatGPT as a summarising tool to condense text to its essential ideas or as a paraphraser to rephrase text in clear, accessible language. Using ChatGPT in these ways can help you to understand complex material, express your own ideas more clearly, and avoid repetition.

Simply input the relevant text and prompt the tool to summarise or paraphrase it. Alternatively, you can use Scribbr’s free text summariser and Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which are specifically designed for these purposes.

Example: Using ChatGPT to summarise/paraphrase

• Paraphrase the following text using clear language:”Engaging in an extensive examination of the intricate interplay between remote instructional methods and academic achievement necessitates consideration of diverse factors, including the pedagogical efficacy of virtual platforms, the socioemotional ramifications of reduced face-to-face interactions, the equitable accessibility of technological resources, and the potential long-lasting implications for students’ educational trajectories and future opportunities.”
• To thoroughly explore the connection between remote teaching methods and academic success, it is crucial to take into account various factors. These factors include evaluating how well virtual platforms support effective teaching, understanding the impact of limited in-person interactions on students’ emotional well-being, ensuring fair access to technology resources, and recognizing the potential long-term effects on students’ educational paths and future prospects.

Once you’ve written your essay, you can prompt ChatGPT to provide feedback and recommend improvements.

You can indicate how the tool should provide feedback (e.g., “Act like a university professor examining papers”) and include the specific points you want to receive feedback on (e.g., consistency of tone, clarity of argument, appropriateness of evidence).

While this is not an adequate substitute for an experienced academic supervisor, it can help you with quick preliminary feedback.

You can also use ChatGPT to check grammar mistakes. However, ChatGPT sometimes misses errors and on rare occasions may even introduce new grammatical mistakes. We suggest using a tool like Scribbr’s free grammar checker , which is designed specifically for this purpose. Or, for more in-depth feedback, try Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service .

Example: Using ChatGPT for feedback

• Feedback the above text with regard to consistency of tone, clarity of argument, appropriateness of evidence, and coherence of structure.
• Clarity of Argument: The argument could be further clarified by explicitly connecting the discussed factors to their impact on academic performance. For example, explicitly stating how the proficiency of virtual platforms and equitable access to technology affect academic performance would strengthen the clarity of the argument.
• Appropriateness of Evidence: The evidence provided is generally appropriate and relevant. To enhance the strength of the evidence, consider incorporating specific examples, research studies, or statistics that directly support the discussed factors and their impact on academic performance. This would provide stronger evidence for the claims made.
• Coherence of Structure: The structure of the text is coherent, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing different factors, and a conclusion. To improve coherence, consider adding transitional phrases or sentences at the beginning or end of paragraphs to facilitate the smooth flow of ideas between paragraphs. This would enhance the overall structure and make it easier for the reader to follow the argument.

Overall, the text demonstrates a consistent tone, a clear argument, appropriate evidence, and a coherent structure. Clarifying the argument by explicitly connecting the factors to their impact, incorporating stronger evidence, and adding transitional phrases for better coherence would further enhance the text’s effectiveness. Note Passing off AI-generated text as your own work is generally considered plagiarism (or at least academic dishonesty ) and may result in an automatic fail and other negative consequences . AI detectors may be used to detect this offence.

If you want more tips on using AI tools , understanding plagiarism , and citing sources , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations, examples, and formats.

• Citing ChatGPT
• Best grammar checker
• Best paraphrasing tool
• ChatGPT in your studies
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Best plagiarism checker

Citing sources

• Citation styles
• In-text citation
• Citation examples
• Annotated bibliography

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to summarise text . This can help you understand complex information more easily, summarise the central argument of your own paper, or clarify your research question.

You can also use Scribbr’s free text summariser , which is designed specifically for this purpose.

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to paraphrase text to help you express your ideas more clearly, explore different ways of phrasing your arguments, and avoid repetition.

However, it’s not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend using a specialised tool like Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool , which will provide a smoother user experience.

Using AI writing tools (like ChatGPT ) to write your essay is usually considered plagiarism and may result in penalisation, unless it is allowed by your university. Text generated by AI tools is based on existing texts and therefore cannot provide unique insights. Furthermore, these outputs sometimes contain factual inaccuracies or grammar mistakes.

However, AI writing tools can be used effectively as a source of feedback and inspiration for your writing (e.g., to generate research questions ). Other AI tools, like grammar checkers, can help identify and eliminate grammar and punctuation mistakes to enhance your writing.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Driessen, K. (2023, June 26). How to Write an Essay with ChatGPT | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/using-ai-tools/chatgpt-essays/

Is this article helpful?

Koen Driessen

Other students also liked, how to write good chatgpt prompts, how to use chatgpt in your studies, how to use chatgpt | basics & tips, still have questions.