AI VS Human Writing: What Would the UK Universities Prefer?
The argument between AI and human writing is an ongoing battle. While AI is great for idea generation, and provides speedy results, is cost-effective, and can maintain content consistency, human writers are more creative and can adapt to various writing styles.
While both can be useful in many ways, universities prefer originality, authenticity, and reliability in a student’s work, something where AI still struggles. Therefore, it is necessary to find the right balance between them and make your essays go from good to great.
In this blog, we will shed light on both human and AI writing, their advantages and disadvantages, and the stance of UK universities on them. To learn more, keep reading on.
Decoding AI Writing
Getting help from AI in writing your essays is not new, as technology advances with time. You just need to type a clear and specific prompt on an AI model, and there you have a perfectly curated essay ready to submit.
However, many people tend to forget that, while AI is becoming more advanced, it has yet to develop subtle arguments in essays and understand the nuances of writing.
It does what you tell it to do and does not have a brain of its own. The clearer your instructions are, the better the results will be.
Advantages of AI Writing
There are both downsides and advantages of using AI in academics. For now, let us take a look at some of its potential benefits for university students in the UK:
Speed and Efficiency
When you have a strict deadline to submit your essay and do not have the time to write it by yourself, you can give a clear prompt to AI tools like ChatGPT to write you an essay. Within a few seconds, it will generate an essay for you.
If you want to make any changes to it, you can ask the tool do it and fix any grammar, spelling, or formatting issues within the essay.
Cost-Effective
Unlike human writers or services like Assignment Ace, where you need to pay to get your assignments done by expert writers, AI is often free of cost.
You can edit your essay and revise it multiple times with AI without having to spend a single penny. If you want to unlock advanced features of an AI model, then you can also find paid plans to suit your academic writing needs.
Consistency
When you sit down to write your essay, you may miss some areas where formatting, structuring, or content flow is inconsistent despite multiple proofreading sessions. This happens because it can be hard to find a flaw in your own work.
Therefore, you can use AI to ensure that your writing remains consistent throughout the essay. Tell AI what tone and guidelines you want to maintain in your writing, and the model will point out and help you fix any underlying issues within your essay.
Disadvantages of Using AI
While AI shines in multiple aspects of writing, its complete use is still not recommended due to the following reasons:
Lack of Creativity
As we discussed before, AI follows your orders and does not have its own feelings, thoughts, or creativity. The content it provides often looks generic, and it fails to use a broad vocabulary to make your essay impressive.
Moreover, AI models are known for using buzzwords like Tapestry, Unleash, and many more that can make it easy for professors to identify AI content that negatively impacts your credibility.
Inability to Understand Context
AI often predicts information instead of providing its own insights. For instance, it will tell you how a computer was made because scientists trained this model with this information, not because it is smart enough to know it on its own.
Similarly, misunderstanding cultural, pop-culture, academic, or social context is not uncommon for the model. It may also interpret idiomatic expressions incorrectly or apply concepts where it should not.
Raises Ethical Concerns
Since you generate content through AI and are not using your own ideas, your work will not be considered original and authentic by universities. Moreover, there is a chance that AI can provide you with someone else’s work, which raises a serious issue of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is often a punishable act within academic writing, so providing plagiarized work can not only weaken your writing but also limit your critical thinking skills and creativity.
The Value of Human Writing
Whether you buy assignment help or hire a professional essay writer, you will see a drastic comparison between AI writing and human writing.
No matter how advanced AI becomes, it is still far from exceeding human creativity and creating compelling content that resonates with readers. Humans know how to structure essays the right way and use metaphors, humor, and storytelling effectively.
Human writers also understand their audience and tailor their content to their needs and preferences, which can help you score higher within a subject.
Advantages of Human Writing
Just like AI, human writing also has its set of advantages and disadvantages. Let us first go through their benefits one by one:
Authenticity and Originality
Unlike AI, an expert human writer would start by doing their research to get a grasp of the topic. Then, they will collect relevant material for essay writing, such as references and facts, to make their work authentic.
Moreover, they will craft essays on original ideas and make the right use of language and vocabulary. As they finish writing, they will edit and proofread to remove mistakes and ensure content accuracy.
Emotional intelligence
Apart from applying their writing expertise, they will also ignite thoughts and emotions within the readers through their writing.
With logical arguments, engaging storytelling, and smooth content flow, they ensure an immersive reading experience for professors that can guarantee you an A in their subject.
Adaptability
AI can never understand human minds as an actual human would. A genuine writer would know what tone and format to adapt in essay writing to cater to the professor’s preferences.
They will also be open to your feedback and will make any changes or revisions you require until you are satisfied with the outcome.
Disadvantages of Human Writing
Now that you are aware of human writing and its significance, it is important to note that it is not without its setbacks:
Time-Consuming
Let us be honest, human writing takes time. A writer would dedicate hours of research, writing, and editing their content to ensure clarity, conciseness, and correctness within the writing.
They cannot produce a large amount of content within strict deadlines, which could be a hurdle for students who want to get work done within a limited time due to upcoming online exams or physical examinations.
Costly Services
A writer will charge for their expertise and time, and the costs can run high depending on the complexity of the topic and the essay’s length. Since they are exerting so much effort into their work, they will charge students accordingly.
This is why we suggest you set aside a budget for human writers. You can also ask fellow students to recommend good writers with reasonable pricing.
Human Bias
Humans have emotions, and they can sometimes get in the way of work. For instance, if you are to write an essay on a controversial topic or figure, the writer could have a hard time being neutral and presenting facts objectively.
This can also impact the quality of academic work, where deep analysis, subjectivity, and evidence-backed information are preferred over emotional outbursts.
UK Universities’ Policies on AI Writing
When the technology was new, many universities within the UK strictly forbade the use of AI. The professors think that AI tools can make students incompatible and limit their thinking abilities. They also use AI detectors to ensure students are not submitting AI work.
However, as time passes by, students now seem to have some ease with these rules. Universities now allow students to use AI for research purposes and urge them to cite its use in their writing. Moreover, professors also let students use AI to complete assignments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI replace human writing in academics?
No, it cannot completely replace human writing as it cannot replicate human creativity, critical thinking, and personal touch.
Is it ethical to use AI for essay writing?
Yes, as long as you use AI only for editing, formatting, structuring, or idea generation and not submitting complete AI-written essays.
Can AI improve my writing skills?
Yes, AI can help you improve clarity, grammar, and organization of thoughts within your academic writing work.
AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement
To make the best use of both human and AI writing, you can combine them for the best results. Use AI for idea generation, but also do your research. Write your first draft yourself, and let AI check it to ensure it is free of errors, properly structured, and flows smoothly.
This way, you are not running away from an emerging technology, but are learning to adapt it into your academics and make your essays compelling, informative, and A-grade worthy.