AI and Writing

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AI and Writing is an introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and its emergent role as a tool for academic, professional, civic, and personal writing. Sid Dobrin examines GenAI from two perspectives: the conceptual and the applied. The conceptual approach addresses the function of GenAI and the ramifications of its use as a writing tool – especially the ethical, social, and material issues it raises. The applied approach offers guidance to assist readers in using GenAI responsibly and authentically. In consideration of the rapid evolution of GenAI and the many unsettled questions about its role, Dobrin leaves room for readers to adapt to shifting technological and institutional conventions.

This book is intended for composition and writing-intensive courses, and for any readers with a general or professional interest in the role of GenAI in writing. While it is primarily designed for first-year writing courses, it’s also applicable to courses in advanced writing, professional writing, technical writing, business writing, and writing across the curriculum, as well as writing-intensive courses in other disciplines. In other words, it can be used in any course in which students are required to produce texts.

Contents

Preface

Part I: Understanding Generative AI

Chapter 1: Change

• Automated Writing: It’s not Really New
• History of Writing Technologies and Cultural Panic
• Conceptual and Applied AI
• Human-Machine Collaboration
• So What?
• Users Aren’t Losers

Chapter 2: Generative AI

• AI’s Origins
• The New AI
• Generative Artificial Intelligence
• How Generative AI Works
• Hallucinations

Chapter 3: Integrity

• Academic Integrity
• Plagiarism
• Show Your Work
• Citation

Part II: Opportunities and Applications

Chapter 4: Writing with GenAI

• Invention and Prewriting
• Research
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing and Proofreading
• Climbing Mount Everest

Chapter 5: Prompts

• Writing Effective Prompts
• Refining Prompts

Chapter 6: Visuals

• Visual Rhetoric and GenAI
• From Words to Images
• Visuals and Hallucinations
• Visuals and Ethics

Chapter 7: Contexts of Use

• Academic Contexts
• Professional Contexts
• Civic Contexts
• Personal Contexts

Chapter 8: Career Readiness

• Skills for Developing and Applying GenAI
• Skills that Benefit from GenAI

Part III: Challenges

Chapter 9: Bias

• Algorithmic Bias
• Exclusionary Bias
• Equitable Access

Chapter 10: Materiality

• Points of Material Impact
• The Cradle: Extraction
• The Grave: Disposal and E-Waste

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Sidney I. Dobrin is Professor and Chair of the Department of English at the University of Florida, and for ten years directed its writing program. He is the Founding Director of the Trace Innovation Initiative, serves as a Digital Thought Leader for Adobe, and is a member of the Florida Institute for National Security, which is part of the University of Florida’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative. Dobrin is the author and editor of numerous books and articles about writing, technology, and ecology.

He is available to consult with post-secondary institutions about generative AI, including policy development, curricula, and the development of faculty training programs. Please contact him for further information.

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A free 30-page PDF booklet on the topic of AI and higher education is also available.