What Does Ethical AI Use Look Like?
By Aleena Nadeem
The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked breakthroughs in healthcare, technology, and finance. However, it poses a series of ethical questions for writing.
A tutor, Julie Center for Purdue University’s writing center, Purdue Owl, explores what is considered ethical and non-ethical when using AI. They state that “Maintaining academic integrity and writer authenticity is becoming more challenging.” (Center, 2025, 1). This statement shows the challenges that using AI poses on students and the authenticity of their writing. However, Center also brings up how it can be helpful during the proofing and drafting phase. They recommend that students put their work into ChatGPT and ask it to remove redundancy in their writing. That way it can improve the students’ writing style to have it appeal to their target audience, in this case their professors. Additionally, Center recommends that students, when researching, can also input their references into ChatGPT and ask for it to cite them in the correct APA format to ensure that they have everything in the correct format.
As a way to assess this, I decided to put the link to this Purdue Owl article into both ChatGPT and Scribbr, a citation generator. I told ChatGPT to format this source in APA 7th edition style. It gave me the citation immediately but to double check that it was correct, I put that link into Scribbr and also selected APA 7th edition style. They were close, except the dates were wrong. This made me confused, so I put this link into another citation generator, Citation Machine, and also selected APA 7th edition formatting style. The citation it generated was the same as the one generated by Scribbr. Which makes me think that asking ChatGPT to generate a student’s sources will not be as accurate as them imputing the source into a citation generator.
I think using AI to help with student formatting with their sources is beneficial and can help make sure that they do not lose points for incorrect formatting on the student’s reference page. Though given my experiment, I would emphasize the importance of fact-checking what a chatbot generates since there is a good chance that there will be misinformation. However, it is crucial to note that here at IU, it advises that students use the expertise versions of AI, such as Microsoft Copilot and Adobe Firefly. IU has a partnership with them, and they serve as a safeguard to help ensure that the writings of the students and the staff aren’t being used to actively train their chatbots. Which makes these generative tools more reliable than the average chatbot, but despite that, it is always important to double check what is being generated for accuracy.
I do believe that having AI better improves a student’s writing with their writing style by eliminating any unnecessary details in their writing is beneficial and still helps maintain academic integrity. Despite this, I always think the best way to help fix a student’s editing with their drafts would be to contact their professors or the University Writing Center here at IUI. It would be much more effective if students went to see a person about what they should or shouldn’t remove as it would help the student understand how to write a draft and how to better their own writing. Since they are people, they could offer the student a variety of perspectives and be able to talk to them about their writing. This could help the students learn about how to better their writing. With chatbots, it makes it hard for the student to actively learn what they are doing wrong with their writing, since all they want to do is quickly get it done and submit it. If they were to go see their professor or a writing center tutor, it would not only offer feedback and help with their wiring, but also help the student learn in the process.
Another perspective comes from The University of Kansas Writing Center, where they also offer insight into the use of AI. They talk about ways to work around the disadvantages of AI. They start by stating that, “Students will use chatbots to complete assignments, bypassing the thinking and intellectual struggle involved in shaping and refining ideas and arguments” (2024, 2). I agree with this statement as it shows the drawbacks of relying on AI. It results in students neglecting the critical thinking that is needed when completing an assignment.
However, they also emphasize how to use AI as a writing assistant, and how it can help a student with the early stages of their writing, such as generating an idea, outlining, or drafting paragraphs for them. They recommend students insert their topic into ChatGPT and ask it to provide ideas for their draft. Furthermore, they suggest that to help students organize their thoughts, they should ask ChatGPT to create an outline for their paper about the topic they chose. As well as asking AI to draft paragraphs for their paper or asking the chatbot for feedback on their own drafts. They do encourage students to edit the paragraphs that were generated by the chatbot as well as adding sources and checking for any errors that the chatbot made. That way, the students are still thinking critically when they make changes and revise on the piece that the AI generated.
I personally believe that using AI to produce ideas for writing takes away their originality since they got the idea from a bot. I feel like ideas should come naturally, through one’s own work and unique thought processes. Students could look at examples of the assigned topic to get a better understanding of what they should be writing about. Or they could communicate with their professor or their writing center to have more guidance when producing an idea.
I believe these alternatives are more helpful to students because they actively help them learn and work towards improving their writing. And yes, ChatGPT can offer these things around the clock and faster, but as we have learned so far, they are not always dependable or accurate. They do not help the students learn and become better writers since all the students want to do is complete the assignment and make the deadline. There is no engagement or effort put into their work which is what makes their piece lack authenticity, compared to if they spoke to a person, such as their professor or a person at their writing center.
Speaking from experience, I always found talking to a person to be more helpful than engaging with a chatbot. With a person, there is more thought behind each idea, there are more perspectives, opinions, and it keeps me and my brain actively working and engaged. This helps me better understand what is being taught or what I should write about, than compared to if I asked a chatbot for help.
Although, I understand for distant learners this can be hard, especially when their schedules do not align very well with the professors or the writing center. Which is why I would recommend emailing with their professors and working out a time to meet over zoom to discuss ways to better their writing.
Additionally, using AI to help outline or make a draft also hinders creativity and takes authenticity away from the students’ writing. When a student relies on generative AI to complete their assignments, they are not actively thinking about what they are writing. They simply put in a prompt, wait for a response, maybe fact-check it, and then submit it. There is no real thought or effort, which in turn makes their work less authentic and original.
This writing center talks about how AI prevents students from using their critical thinking skills when completing an assignment since they often rely on AI. This can have damaging effects on their future academic or professional careers. However, since many jobs do require employees who know how to use AI, I believe students understanding gen AI is not a bad thing. It is good to be informed about how to use generative AI, but it is also important to not rely on it heavily when completing one’s work.
As for asking the chatbot for feedback, they would find more use asking their professor or the writing center. As mentioned before, from my own experiences, I found actively engaging with another person helps me better understand what I should write about and how to improve on my writing. There is much more effort and thought put into the conversation, compared to if a student were to talk to a chatbot. They would not only offer constructive feedback but also give the student a better understanding of the assignment.
Lastly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison writing center by Jun Akiyoshi and Rajwan Alshareefy, offer another perspective on AI use. They both help review the disadvantages of using AI and the importance of fact-checking what is being generated. While discussing the problems of AI, they write, “Chatbots would show challenges of lack of originality, inaccuracies, too generalized responses and poor logic flow in writing prompts” (Akiyoshi and Alshareefy, 2024, 5). This shows the limitations of using AI and how when a student asks chatbots to generate an outline or a draft that the finished product will have errors such as misinformation and will lack authenticity. Nonetheless, they also explore how a student can use it as a tool. They recommend inputting their work into a chatbot and asking it to fix grammar mistakes to help preserve the flow of the draft. As well as communicating with the chatbot to help generate and narrow down ideas for their paper, while also urging students to double check what is being generated.
I think using AI to help fix grammar mistakes is not entirely bad since sites like Grammarly exist. It would help maintain the overall flow and structure of the students’ papers and prevent them from losing points over bad grammar. However, as mentioned earlier, I think the students discussing their work with their professor or their writing center would be much more beneficial when seeking out corrections and feedback for their piece. As well as communicating with them to help brainstorm and come up with ideas in a way that is organic and true to their writing style. I believe with chatbots generating ideas, they take away the experience of a student coming up with it themselves. That experience is important when a student is developing their critical thinking and writing skills.
From learning more about what ethical and nonethical AI use is, I believe that there is a key difference when determining if one is using AI ethically and that depends on if they are using AI as a tool or a crutch.
Using AI to help fix grammar mistakes or helping to format a student’s reference page is how one would utilize AI as a tool. This tool helps enhance a student’s work without taking away the authenticity of their work. Compared to using AI to generate ideas, create an outline or draft, this taking away the originality of a student’s writing, ultimately becoming a crutch. Nonetheless, when one uses AI as a tool, they do not feel reliant on it. They are still able to do their own work and aren’t hindering their critical thinking skills or authenticity in the process. Furthermore, if a student feels too reliant on AI, I would recommend students go to the writing center, speak to a writing tutor or with their English professor, in person or through zoom. They can provide and guide the student throughout their writing process, all while helping the student maintain their writing style and academic integrity.
References
Akiyoshi, J. (2025, February 11). ChatGPT and Writing Center Tutors: Establishing a “both/and” Relationship. Another Word. https://dept.writing.wisc.edu/blog/chatgpt-and-wc/
Ethical use of AI in writing assignments. (2024). Center for Teaching Excellence. https://cte.ku.edu/ethical-use-ai-writing-assignments
Tutor, J. C. W. (2025, February 3). Ethically using AI generative tools. Purdue University Global Academic Success Center. https://purdueglobalwriting.center/2024/10/25/ethically-using-ai-generative-tools/
