Text generators can assist you in many ways when studying and writing assignments, but they can also lead you astray. Therefore, it can be useful to reflect on what you want to achieve and what you risk losing when using such tools. An important guideline for responsible use—beyond resource use and data security—is that you understand and can vouch for the text you submit. It is neither academically honest nor beneficial for your own learning process to submit text you cannot evaluate and thus cannot take responsibility for.

Below are some tips on how text generators can be used in different parts of the writing process.

The brainstorming phase

When starting an assignment, you often need to familiarise yourself with the topic. Both Wikipedia and various AI tools can quickly provide you an overview, offer key definitions, and references to literature on the topic without you necessarily having to refer to this in the assignment itself.

If you get stuck trying to find keywords or formulating a research question/thesis statement, AI tools can help you get started. You can get input on how to create a research question and what it should contain and use this as inspiration to create your own.

Examples of prompts

"I am writing a bachelor's thesis on environmental challenges related to plastic in the ocean. Give me six different research questions/thesis statements."

"Can you rewrite these research questions/thesis statements to fit the subject of religious studies?"

Be careful!

Text generators are not yet suitable for literature searches. Investigating the existence, relevance, and quality of the sources you are given will be necessary.

First draft

Text generators can, if you wish, write entire assignments with a predetermined structure and textual tone . As a result, you can get a draft of how the assignment might look like, just as if you were reading the draft to a fellow student.

Examples of prompts

"Write a text in Norwegian of 1500 words about there being more plastic than fish in the sea in 2050. The text should be written using IMRAD structure and academic language."

"Create a structure for an assignment about there being more plastic than fish in the ocean, where the discussion part of the assignment addresses the main arguments for and against the claim."

"Follow the research pentagon structure for the question about whether there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean in 2050."

"Provide a list of arguments for and against this claim..."

Be careful!

You must evaluate whether the suggestions generated are good and well-suited to your assignment or problem statement. As with reading other students’ submissions, it can also be challenging to write an independent text once you have read another text on the same topic. Do you learn as much when you see how others have solved the same task?

The revision phase

Text generators are good at languages, and can therefore be excellent and helpful aids concerning assignment genres or styles. These tools are also good at explaining, summarising, and simplifying a text, as well as improving or creating variation in language and sentence structure. Not least, the tools can be used for proofreading.

They can also be helpful when translating text, although one must be particularly aware that they do not necessarily hit the mark on terminology, context, etc.

Examples of prompts

"Remove spelling mistakes in the text below:"

"Rephrase the text below so that it uses more academic language."

"Rewrite the text to appear as if it was written by an expert in academic writing/a philosophy professor/a biologist."

"Make the introduction more engaging."

"Propose a convincing conclusion based on the text pasted below."

"Provide a list of weaknesses in the text pasted below."

Be careful!

By noticing what is changed in the text, you will develop your skills as an academic writer, but do not let artificial intelligence take over your text! If you do not understand the suggested changes, you can ask the AI tool to explain these for you. This way, you can develop your editorial skills, also in rewriting and finalizing your own text, and become a more independent writer in the long run.

Social media News media Academic literature Artificial intelligence