Using Gen AI in Your Writing Process

Gen AI can support aspects of the writing process. To use this tool effectively, writers should   

  • Learn how gen AI works  
  • Learn how to prompt it  
  • Discover which aspects of the writing and learning process AI can support well (and not well), given the writing task, its purpose, and your goals
  • Engage actively and critically with its output
  • Reflect on its impact on your learning 

Transparent and reflective AI use, guided by your professor’s expectations, can be a powerful part of your learning process.  
 
Your decision about whether and how to use gen AI in your writing process will depend on your instructor’s AI policy as well as the writing task, its purpose, your goals, and your stance on AI. 

Follow your instructor’s policy 

The university requires Mason instructors to state their AI use policy on their syllabi. These policies range from “any use of AI is forbidden on any assignment” to “all use of AI is permitted on all assignments,” with many variations between. Violating your instructor’s AI use policy can lead to an Academic Standards violation of unauthorized help, fabrication, or plagiarism, so be sure to follow that policy. 
 
If you are not clear about your instructor’s AI policy for a specific assignment, ask them. You will find an email template below to use for this purpose.  

AI impact on knowledge and skill development 

College writing assignments are designed to help you develop specific skills for writing and deep knowledge of the topic you write about. And importantly, learning to write in your major field of study is a way of learning to think like experts in that field do. 
 
Thus, relying too heavily on AI to support your writing can prevent you from developing the critical skill and deep knowledge you are meant to build in college. These are also the skills and knowledge you need to analyze and evaluate AI output. 
 
This critical thinking issue also extends beyond the educational context. Recent studies have shown that AI tool use is associated with diminished critical thinking abilities (Gerlich, 2025). Even experts who used AI to complete their tasks showed diminished skill when they took over those tasks again (Budzyń et al., 2026). 

Using AI to support your learning and critical thinking 

To use AI to support rather than hinder your learning and critical thinking about writing, 

  • Always engage actively and critically with AI output. Be especially attentive to possible bias and fabrications, including sources and quotations.
  • Consider AI output in light of your specific audience, purpose, and intentions for a given writing task.
  • Prompt AI chatbots to ask you questions rather than give you suggestions or answers.
  • Work on a phase or aspect of your writing task before asking gen AI for suggestions on that phase or aspect of your writing.
  • Do not use gen AI to generate outlines or write the drafts of your papers.  
  • Compare AI-generated texts and human-written texts to sharpen your critical reading skills  
  • Do not use AI for peer review.  

Unethical use of gen AI for writing 

Any use of AI that violates your instructor’s policy is unauthorized help, and you can end up with an Academic Standards violation.  
 
Submitting your peers’ texts to gen AI is unethical. If your peer wants feedback on their writing from gen AI, they can prompt it for that feedback themselves.  
 
Some students, especially those concerned with gen AI’s environmental harms and bias toward dominant viewpoints, may view any use of gen AI as unethical.

Grammarly and AI 

Many writers have used Grammarly for years to flag sentence-level issues with their writing. In 2023, Grammarly added a gen AI feature. This feature not only flags issues, it also rewrites sentences. If you are taking a course that prohibits AI use, or if you do not want Grammarly to rewrite your prose, go to your Grammarly account settings feature and customization tab, and turn the gen AI feature off.  

Acknowledging and citing AI use in a paper

Your instructor may require you to include a statement of AI use when you submit your writing to them. They may also require you to keep and submit a record of your AI use.  
 
MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles all have guidelines for citing AI use in your papers. Most academic journals have explicit policies for acceptable AI use and citation. 

Email template to ask instructor about their policy

If you are not clear on your instructor’s AI use policy for an assignment, you can use or modify this template to email them with your question:  
 
Subject: Question about AI use for [assignment name] 
 
Dear Professor [Last Name], 
 
I am reaching out to ask about your policy on using AI for [assignment name]. I am working on [specific phase(s) of the writing process or specific writing challenge], and I was considering using [AI tool] to assist me. However, I wanted to check with you before moving forward to ensure I follow your guidelines. 
 
Please let me know if AI use is allowed for this assignment, and if so, under what conditions. If it is not allowed, I will be sure to avoid it.  
 
Thank you for your time and guidance, 
 
Best, 
[Your name] 
 
Thanks to Lake Forest College for providing a template we lightly revised.  

Additional resource 

See Mason’s AI Guidelines for Students. 

References

Gerlich, M. (2025). AI tools in society: Impacts on cognitive offloading and the future of critical thinking. Societies, 15(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006

Budzyń et al. (2026). Endoscopist deskilling risk after exposure to artificial intelligence in colonoscopy: A multicentre, observational study. The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Article in press. Doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(25)00133-5