Generative AI and First-Year Writing

GenAI Responsible Use Matrix

A process-based guide for using Generative AI in academic writing and research, created by the Michigan Tech First-Year Writing Program.

Stage	Purpose	How and Why	Responsible Usage	Irresponsible Usage	Risks of Use
Planning	Understanding a task and the steps you need to take to complete it.	GenAI can help you understand possible processes that works for your task.	Breaking down a writing assignment into smaller steps; generating a timeline or graphic organizer for the project; asking for assistance understanding instructions.	Accepting a fully developed plan from GenAI without considering your own needs and assignment purposes.	You may lose the ability to understand instructions and plan for yourself. GenAI may misinterpret the assignment, and will not understand its purpose as well as you or your instructor.
Invention	Brainstorming topics, themes, or concepts.	GenAI can suggest ideas or expand on prompts that you build on and add your own perspective to.	Using GenAI to help expand on ideas; pose multiple questions; have a dialogue with; or run multiple iterations.	Using GenAI to generate the entire topic idea without having some initial ideas first.	You may miss opportunities to explore your own thinking and to develop creative and critical thinking skills.
Research	Gathering background information on a topic.	GenAI can suggest keywords for the topic being researched.	Verifying GenAI-generated sources with library searches, article databases, or Google Scholar.	Using GenAI as a search engine, as it is unreliable and more limited than valid search engines or academic databases.	You might not develop your own inquiry and curiosity or problem-solving skills by identifying what topics to research. You lose opportunities to generate and refine keywords and search strategies through trial and error, part of problem-solving. You might miss or inadvertently absorb bias in the way GenAI gathers information.
Reading	Identifying key points in a reading assignment.	GenAI can unpack and summarize texts as part of the research and writing process.	Asking GenAI to create a reading guide for an article. Using AI to generate a summary of articles to help select those that are relevant to your research question.	Substituting GenAI-generated summaries for actually reading.	You may not understand your topic or sources beyond a surface level. You might miss the chance to develop critical reading, analysis, and synthesis skills. You could misrepresent a writer’s claims.
Outlining	Generating different outline templates and ways to organize thoughts.	GenAI can make sample outlines to see how ideas can be structured.	Using GenAI outlines as a starting point or to create a template.	Copying outlines without adapting the output to your topic and perspective.	You might miss opportunities to learn how to structure ideas and to organize texts in response to a writing situation. You might not learn the ability to organize large projects or learn cognitive strategies to manage information.
Drafting/Writing	Composing text during drafting stage.	GenAI should not be used to compose text during the drafting stage. Drafting should be original work.	Asking GenAI to suggest famous or popular examples of the types of text you have to write as models.	Using GenAI for drafting the substance of your text that will be submitted for your class. Submitting GenAI-generated text output without modification and claiming it to be original. Using GenAI to modify GenAI output to appear more human-written.	Over-reliance can lead to stagnation in your writing skills. You might see decreasing proficiency with independently composing in situations where GenAI technologies are not available to you.
Revising	Refining and improving clarity.	GenAI can suggest edits, reword sentences, or increase readability.	Using GenAI to enhance clarity while ensuring your original voice stays. Asking GenAI for a list of revision strategies.	Relying on GenAI to make changes for you.	You might not develop (or even start to lose) your own writer’s voice. Revision is an opportunity to rethink ideas and content, so you may not learn to discern important from unimportant information or refine your claims. You may lose control over your own intellectual property or risk data privacy by putting your work in commercial tools.
Editing and Proofreading	Correcting errors in grammar, refining style, and syntax.	GenAI can give feedback on grammar, style, and tone.	Double checking GenAI suggestions before accepting changes.	Accepting GenAI changes without reviewing for accuracy.	You may miss errors, incorrectly edit the text, and fail to develop personal proofreading skills.
Formatting	Ensuring proper structure and adherence to style guide templates.	GenAI can format text for reports, style guide adherence, and presentation.	Using GenAI for style guide conventions and genre conventions.	Letting GenAI format content without checking for errors.	You may not understand conventions for different style guides, reports, and other types of writing.
Final Draft	Polishing before submission.	GenAI can double check consistency and overall effectiveness.	Ensuring GenAI-assisted work aligns with ethical and responsible use of GenAI in your context. Citing GenAI when and in what way it is used in final draft.	Relying entirely on GenAI without reviewing or reflecting on the changes. Not disclosing GenAI usage.	You could miss skill development in metacognitive knowledge and judging a text’s appropriateness for the situation. Submitting material that you’re responsible for without understanding why could also have academic and professional consequences.
Reflecting	Thinking about your process and monitoring your learning.	Reflecting on how you used GenAI as part of your process. GenAI could create prompts for you to consider and help you go more in depth with your thinking.	Using GenAI-generated prompts to support deeper reflection (as a starting point for your own thinking).	Treating GenAI as capable of metacognition or as a substitute for your own reflection.	GenAI does not have the capacity for metacognition. You may lose opportunities to develop self-knowledge and task-knowledge.