In this interactive workshop, we will explore how academic writing functions not just as a means of communication but as a central tool for thinking, inquiry, and knowledge-making throughout the research process in any discipline. As generative AI tools become more capable and more common, researchers across disciplines often struggle to decide when and how to let AI tool write for them, assist their writing, or avoid AI tools when writing. While such tools may support certain aspects of the research process, they also pose risks: to originality, depth of thought, ethical responsibility, and the researcher’s intellectual agency. These risks are particularly pronounced in the humanities and social sciences, where writing more substantially embodies the research process. Toward the sciences end of the spectrum, AI poses risks because writing tends to be defined more narrowly, letting AI encroach thinking and meaning making.
Participants will do two activities. First, adapting a writing with and without AI rubric, they will identify what roles writing plays in their research and determine which of those roles are best preserved for human judgment and insight. The second activity will help them build a personalized decision-making flowchart to guide field-sensitive and ethically grounded choices about when, why, and how to use (or avoid) AI tools in their writing during research (broadly defined). Scholars from all disciplines who want to approach writing with (or without) AI more thoughtfully are warmly welcome.
Session duration: 75 minutes
Please click on the facilitator’s name in the session info to view their bio.
This session will be recorded and shared on the website and on our YouTube channel
