What if I Suspect That My Child Is Using AI for Writing Projects?
In our Brave Writer online classes, writing instructors not only give feedback about your child’s writing, they also highlight particular pain points in home education.
Every so often, we’ll share their comments on the blog (with persmission) so the wider homeschool community can benefit. Plus, this will give you a sneak peek of the kind of thoughtful input our writing coaches provide!
In today’s post, a parent had asked what to do if a child is suspected of using Chat GPT for a rough draft. Coach Hanne Bjornstad replies.
The Response
Thanks for reaching out. You’re not alone with this; I’m coming across more and more families who are trying (struggling!) to navigate these new technologies. I think about this a lot for my own kids, too. I used to think we’d be immune to its charms, but I’m seeing now that this is going to be something we all have to think about. Phew, right? …
While I can give you some ideas for spotting AI, I know that’s not really getting to the heart of your dilemma, which comes down to something that feels a lot more relational. We want our kids to know that we value their essential “them-ness,” right? And we don’t want to shake that relational connection with suspicion, especially because we know how capable and thoughtful they are. I think you’re right that the goal in all of this is to be able to hear a writer’s own distinctive voice, and I wonder if there’s a way to focus on that in a conversation with him.
I also wonder if externalizing things a bit might help. There are free AI checkers that you can run text through, like GPTZero, and they say something like: “This software says there might be some AI text in your draft.” That might feel less like a direct accusation. When I’ve had some suspicions with my own kid, I also have asked her just to walk me through her writing process and how she came up with the ideas because “they seem a little different from your usual writing.”
I don’t know if that helps or not; I’m happy to keep chatting. I’ve been thinking about AI in writing a lot lately, in case you can’t tell by the length of this reply! On my end, I’ll continue to treat his writing as unique and original to him, as that’s our current policy at Brave Writer, but if you want him to submit another draft or take another approach, just let me know, and we can work something out!
Warmly, Hanne
