Learning to Thread the Needle with ChatGPT

I’ve been using ChatGPT for personal writing, and with my college writing students, for three years now. I don’t see ChatGPT as a savior or a demon, more like something in between. 

My review of it is mixed. First the good: It’s a great editor. I can use it to polish grammar, syntax, and sentence clarity. I can use it to come up with essay and story titles that are better than my originals. I can find humorous similes that I couldn’t summon on my own. I can use it to help students do similar editing with their writing and teach them how to use the appropriate prompts to get the desired results. 

Now for some things to watch for: If I’m not careful, I can let it take over my authorial presence so that I lose my writing voice. Usually this is because the prose is overwritten. I have to be careful that I don’t attenuate to this overwritten prose because florid writing pushes the reader away. My goal is to forge a connection, not put a wedge between me and the reader. 

The other problem is one my students and I talk about all the time: Over time, we get lazier and lazier and expect AI to do the muscle work while we become Non Player Characters.

Over time, your goal should be to thread the needle: Use ChatGPT to edit for clarity. Avoid it or tell it to do a “light edit” when it starts to overwrite your content and render you a bloviating machine.