ARTIFICIAL VERSUS HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING: DO WE HAVE TO COMPETE WITH AI?
Abstract
The development of artificial intelligence opens up new opportunities for learning a second language and acquiring language skills. At the same time, when it comes to academic writing, AI’s ability to generate unique narratives makes it a serious rival to those students who work independently. Obviously, it is no use trying to ban ChatGPT or other similar technologies. Therefore, if ESL teachers do not want their students to lose critical thinking faculties, it is time to review methods of teaching academic writing.This study examines two groups of short essays on the same subject (analysis of a free verse poem), those written by senior ESL students and generated by artificial intelligence. Comparison between the groups is made in terms of linguistic characteristics of the essays (vocabulary, syntactic structures, figures of speech) and originality of the poem’s interpretation. Typical weak and strong points of the human-authored and AI-generated essays are pointed out.It is suggested that prior to setting an essay writing task, students can be engaged in choosing a topic that might interest them. They can start with writing a mock essay, ask ChatGPT to do the same, compare the two versions, and discuss the results in class. AI can help cope with linguistic problems; as to generating ideas, it is worth encouraging students to do it independently.
References
2. Bailey, S. (2006). Academic writing: A handbook for international students (2nd ed.). Rout- ledge. https://files.znu.edu.ua/files/Bibliobooks/Kushynova/0034637.pdf
3. Edmett, A., Ichaporia, N., Crompton, H., & Crichton, R. (2023). Artificial intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future. British Council. https://doi. org/10.57884/78EA-3C69
4. Edmett, A. (2025). GenAI and TESOL. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 7(2), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.58304/ijts.250228
5. Fang, Z. (2024, December 13). What is academic writing and other burning questions. Rout- ledge: Humanities and Media Arts. https://blog.routledge.com/humanities-and-media-arts/what-is-academic-writing-and-other-burning-questions-about-it/
6. Gavins, J. (2007). Text World Theory: An introduction. Edinburgh University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1r285f
7. Gavins, J. (2020). Poetry in the mind: The cognition of contemporary poetic style. Edinburgh University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv1c29rv5
8. Gillett, A., Hammond, A., & Martala, M. (2009). Inside track: Successful academic writing. Pearson Education Limited. https://www.minams.edu.pk/cPanel/ebooks/miscellaneous/Successful%20Academic%20Writing%20-%20Andy%20Gillett.pdf
9. Greene-Santos, A. (2024, February 22). Does AI have a bias problem? NEA Today. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/does-ai-have-bias-problem
10. Herbold, S., Hautli-Janisz, A., Heuer, U., Kikteva, Z., & Trautsch, A. (2023). A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays. Scientific Reports 13, 18617. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45644-9
11. Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Blinkoff, E. (2023, January 9). ChatGPT: Educational friend or foe? Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chatgpt-educational-friend-or-foe 12. Kyianytsia, Ye. (2025). Trends in creating creative content in media as a component of media practice. Scientific Journal of Polonia University, 68(1), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.23856/6811 13. Marchuk, T., & Mintsys, E. (2023). Linhvopoetyka ta tematyka anhlomovnoi pisennoi liryky [Linguopoetics and thematics of the English song lyrics]. Folium, special edition, 110–116. https://doi.org/10.32782/folium/2023.3.16 [in Ukrainian]
14. OpenAI. (2025, March 22). ChatGPT response to a request to generate two essays under the title “The Role of Function-Advancing Propositions and World-Switches in Interpreting the Meaning of Michael Swan’s Poem “How Everything Is’ ”. ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com 15. OpenAI. (2025, April 29). ChatGPT response to a request to generate an essay under the title “The Role of Function-Advancing Propositions and World-Switches in Interpreting the Meaning of Michael Swan’s Poem “How Everything Is’ ”. ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com 16. Oppenheimer, D. ( 2023, January 17, 2023). Chat GPT has arrived – and nothing has changed. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/chatgpt- has-arrived-and-nothing-has-changed
17. Thonney, T. (2011). Teaching the conventions of academic discourse. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 38(4), 347–362.
https://doi.org/10.58680/tetyc201115234
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258999848_Teaching_the_Conventions_of_Aca-demic_Discourse_Teaching_English_in_the_Two-Year_College_384_2011_347-62
18. University of York. (2025, March 10). Academic writing: A practical guide. https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing/academic-style
19. Werth, P. (1999). Text worlds: Representing conceptual space in discourse. Pearson Education Inc. https://textworldtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/text-worlds.pdf
20. Wilson, J. R. (2022). Academic writing (Draft). https://wilson.fas.harvard.edu/Academ- icWriting
21. Yakhontova, T. V. (2003). English academic writing for students and researchers / Osnovy anhlomovnoho naukovoho pysma [Basics of English-language scientific writing] (2nd ed.). ПАІС [PAIS].
22. Yakhontova, T. (2024). Conventions of English academic writing. [PowerPoint slides]. Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BnD6xdMA4yFgg-kaIeuHnfqPl4L5JnuGG/view?ts=67fcf5be&pli=1
Abstract views: 19 PDF Downloads: 6
