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Session 1 AI and Writing Fall 2026 — Transcript

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0:00If you're late, you can also review or
0:03um catch up as well. Are you able to see
0:05my screen? Okay.
0:07>> Yep.
0:08>> Thank you.
0:12>> Perfect. So, welcome everybody to our
0:15first session of AI and writing. You
0:18have two facilitators for this course.
0:22We are joined by Dr. Bill Hunter.
0:26He's here in our room and I am your
0:29instructor for AI and based learning
0:32technology. So I've met many of you
0:34before. I do see some new faces here. So
0:36welcome if you are new to the program.
0:39Um AI in writing is the third course in
0:43our program. But if you are taking this
0:45as your first course and you are
0:47considering taking other courses in this
0:49program, you can um take the uh
0:54simulation next and then the AI based
0:57learning technologies and ethics in the
0:59winter and that can help you earn that
1:02certificate. So you don't need to
1:03complete it in the same cohort. If
1:06you're new and you want to take the
1:07other uh courses within this program,
1:10you can take that um off track.
1:15Okay. So, again, my name is Joyce and
1:18I'll give you a little tour of um
1:21Canvas. I do want to make sure that
1:23we're all connected as well.
1:27Before we get started, we'll start with
1:29a land acknowledgement. We respectfully
1:32acknowledge that this course is hosted
1:34from the traditional and treaty
1:36territories of indigenous people,
1:37including the lands of the Missagas of
1:40Skugog Island First Nation within the
1:42Williams Treaty's territory.
1:45As we explore AI and writing, we honor
1:48indigenous teachings and storytelling,
1:50stewardship, and the responsible sharing
1:52of knowledge. We commit to fostering
1:55respect, reciprocity, accountability,
1:58and ethical engagement in our learning
2:00community. We encourage all participants
2:03to deepen their understanding and take
2:06meaningful actions in in support of
2:08indigenous communities. To learn more
2:11about the Missagas of Skugog Island
2:13First Nation, please visit the Missagas
2:15of Skoo Skugog Island First Nation link
2:18here. and that's um
2:21uh on the gamma website you have access
2:25to that module one. Uh thank you for
2:27joining in this commitment toward
2:29responsible and respectful learning.
2:33Okay. So if you're just joining for the
2:35first time, I do make these slides
2:38available to you to follow in canvas.
2:41You can access this through the modules
2:45and then it's the first one. So, it's
2:48presentation one, gamma session one.
2:52Okay. So, I did send out an announcement
2:54over the weekend, a survey, and this one
2:56only will only take a couple of minutes
2:58for you to complete, but it will give us
3:00it'll give Bill and I some information
3:02to make sure that we're meeting your
3:04goals and we're helping you achieve what
3:07you came here to learn. So, take a few
3:09minutes and click on that link to
3:11complete the survey if you have not yet.
3:17And I did ask this before uh class
3:20started, but are there any students here
3:24that do not have access to Canvas?
3:30You're all okay?
3:31>> Yep.
3:32>> Okay. So, if you do not have access,
3:34just send uh continuous learning at
3:37ontarot.ca
3:39a message and they can help you gain
3:42access.
3:46Okay, so our agenda has a few fun
3:48activities today. I first want to just
3:52explore the learning outcomes. They are
3:54listed in your course outline. So today
3:57we'll identify and apply various AI
4:00tools for writing. That'll be in the
4:02second half. So I'll I'll demonstrate a
4:06few different AI tools. Maybe you might
4:08have tried them already and then explore
4:10some of those so that you have um some
4:13knowledge behind how some tools are
4:16better for different writing needs. So
4:19is your need for research or is it for
4:21edit editing etc.
4:24Organize content efficiently using AI.
4:27Compose and edit documents with AI
4:29assistance and then critically evaluate
4:31and revise test text using AI
4:34technologies.
4:36Okay. So, I'm just going to exit out of
4:39here quickly so that I can give you a
4:41canvas tour.
5:18Can you see my canvas screen? Has that
5:20populated yet? Okay, excellent. So,
5:24homepage, this is what you should see.
5:29And this will just give you information
5:30about the course. We're on Wednesdays at
5:326:00 p.m. Eastern time. So, as I
5:36mentioned before, one of one of my hacks
5:38for keeping track of world time is using
5:41uh the weather app. You can save uh
5:44different location so that you have a
5:45current time. Um announcements. So, make
5:48sure you're checking your announcements.
5:50Uh I will post the um any any type of
5:55announcements. Bill will post
5:56announcements here as well as uh and
5:59I'll add uh the YouTubes as well for the
6:03recordings.
6:08The modules have three different weeks
6:10as well as the X files. These are really
6:13great resources and references for you.
6:16Um, there's no test. We do have the
6:19capstone assignment, but these are used
6:22for reference for you and as tools to
6:26help you with your AI and writing
6:29practice.
6:31Okay, there's a lot of information
6:33there. So just make sure that perhaps
6:35you download it or um save it somewhere
6:40for future.
6:41>> We'd also encourage you to use those
6:43resources in framing your responses to
6:46the discussion questions which we'll
6:48come to shortly.
6:51>> Yes. So the discussions as well, we'll
6:54have three different discussions uh
6:56weekly discussions that will be required
6:58for you to complete to earn the credit
7:02for this course. That's a pass and fail
7:03course. So the requirement is your
7:07discussion post. So we do have the first
7:09discussion post here with reintroduce
7:11yourself to your future self. Thank you
7:13Tanya for participating in that already.
7:17And we'll have a breakout activity a
7:21group breakout activity for today's
7:23session as well where I'll populate the
7:27discussion post that will be a
7:28collaborative discussion post.
7:33Okay.
7:34And the assignment. So for the capstone
7:38project and this is something that you
7:40can think about now as you're starting
7:45this first session. So the capstone
7:48project is an acceptable capstone
7:51project is a requirement to have this
7:53course included in the work for the
7:55certificate. The capstone is marked not
7:58marked in the usual sense but the
7:59instructors will provide individual
8:01feedback to the authors of each capstone
8:04project. So similar to the um AI based
8:09learning technologies course we have two
8:12different options for you as a capstone
8:16uh option. So there are sample papers
8:19that are provided for you. So the first
8:21one did you want to say something Bill?
8:24Nope.
8:25>> Okay. So, the first one is option one, a
8:29report on an innovative practice to
8:32complete this assignment. Use an AI tool
8:34like chat GPT etc. to assist in a
8:37writing in writing a paper about
8:39something you do in your professional
8:41practice. In writing the paper, use the
8:44framework for the writing process
8:46described in the course. Bill's going to
8:48go through that today. And there's also
8:51um the article that he wrote that's in
8:53module one
8:55um which is generate organize compose
8:58and revise. A major part of the paper
9:01should be an explanation of how AI
9:04contributed. Okay. So these are your
9:06main topics to include in the first part
9:10and this is a writing assignment.
9:12There's also a sample provided here, an
9:16exemplar.
9:22Okay, let me get back to that screen.
9:36>> Are you sharing your screen?
9:39What do you see? I just see the class. I
9:42don't see anything.
9:45>> I do see a a document.
9:48>> Yes, I'm sharing a document. It says
9:50sample capstone for option one.
9:52>> Okay. Maybe I'll have to go to a
9:54different window.
9:56>> Darlene, if you check your view your
10:00>> Yeah, that's view screen. Yes.
10:04>> Thanks. Sorry.
10:05>> You're welcome. Okay. And let me just
10:07stop sharing this to get back to
10:15get back to the capstone.
10:18Okay, so that's option one
10:23share
10:28and then option two an academic paper.
10:32So the academic paper is uh similar. Use
10:36a tool like chat GPT, Gemini
10:39etc. Copilot whatever tool you have
10:42access to
10:45to assist in writing a paper which you
10:47critically review an article in research
10:49journal or professional magazine. The
10:52article you review may be on a topic but
10:54choosing something in educational
10:56research or practice would likely be
10:58would likely make the task more
11:00manageable. There's also another sample
11:02there you can click as an exemplar
11:08and in session three you will
11:13prepare a small presentation of your
11:17project so far. So whatever you've
11:20researched for um whatever you've chosen
11:23option one or two you'll prepare a 5 to
11:267 minute presentation that sum
11:28summarizes the findings and your future
11:31recommendations.
11:33You'll present to your peers in a small
11:36group and then the peers you'll be
11:39prepared to ask questions and provide
11:41feedback as well.
11:44This will be on the last um Wednesday
11:48that that will be due. Uh sorry, you'll
11:51be presenting on Wednesday, November
11:5318th. So, you have 5 to 7 minutes, but
11:57your capstone project will be due in
12:00Canvas, the writeup on November 22nd.
12:05Okay? So, it doesn't need to be fully
12:07done by the presentation, but it does
12:10need to be done by uh November 22nd,
12:14which is a Sunday. So, you can use the
12:16presentation date as a time to either
12:19present your findings or ask your peers
12:21questions if you need help or um if they
12:25have any suggestions.
12:31Okay. Are there any questions?
12:40some good ideas for the capstone so far.
12:43>> Go ahead, Bill.
12:45>> Let me just uh explain a bit why we have
12:48options on the assignment. Most of the
12:49people who take this course or the these
12:52courses in the certificate are in
12:55professional positions. They're teaching
12:57in schools, they're teaching in
12:59colleges, universities, they're working
13:01in health settings, whatever.
13:04uh and for most of those people that
13:06first option lets them focus the work on
13:10something that is directly related to
13:13their work. Uh however we do get some
13:16students who who take this course while
13:18they are still either undergraduate or
13:21graduate students and for them it might
13:24be more useful uh to be able to have a
13:28focus on something that would be an
13:30academic paper. So, we want to give that
13:32option to people who want it. Uh, but we
13:36certainly don't
13:37uh see we don't have a preference for
13:39which one of those two things you do.
13:41It's it's what fits your needs um that
13:44we we're trying to address.
13:49>> Thank you, Bill. And let me know if you
13:51have any questions about that uh
13:53capstone. I I do like to brainstorm some
13:56ideas or feel free to use AI as a tool
14:01to help you with the first step to
14:03generate ideas as well.
14:07Okay. So, let's move on. Let's talk
14:10about the writing process. This is uh
14:14this link has uh a TED talk. It's a it's
14:18a podcast that links to a Sher Turkl
14:21interview. And she says something. She
14:23says, "Even those of us who couldn't
14:25write very good love letters summoned
14:28ourselves in a certain kind of special
14:31way that we wrote a love letter and the
14:33love letter was not just about what was
14:35on paper. It was about what we had done
14:39to ourselves in the process of writing
14:41it." And that's something that is being
14:44undermined by the use of technology,
14:46even if the final product is more
14:49pleasing.
14:51And I'm sharing this quote as
14:55just a thought in terms of the feeling
14:59of writing and what AI writing is. Now,
15:03I was we had some renovations done on
15:06our home and I was cleaning out some old
15:09paperwork and I found um some letters
15:12that were written to me in my teenage
15:14years during high school and they were
15:17letters from friends, some some old uh
15:20an old boyfriend and it was folded like
15:22in an origami style and I was looking at
15:24it like wow look at the effort that was
15:27made in like back in the day before we
15:30had all of this and I had something
15:32tangible that I actually still kept. And
15:35it was really neat to reflect and review
15:38that and how I felt when I had actually
15:41received that. It it all kind of came
15:44back to me, those emotions, those
15:45feelings. And I have a son now who's 15
15:48and he has a a girlfriend and he he
15:51talks to her on Snapchat where the
15:52messages disappear and they forget what
15:54they say to each other. And I think this
15:55is so different from the time that I was
15:59a youth and the way that communication
16:02or how they feel or what they're not
16:05feeling. Do they experience as deep as
16:09this if they're receiving disappearing
16:11messages or it's so um short or text
16:15messages are like BRB be right back like
16:18things are so shortened and um sometimes
16:22the feeling is taken out of the the
16:24emotion is taken out of the writing when
16:27you can ask chat GPT or an AI to simply
16:31compose something.
16:33And so it is an interesting podcast um
16:35to listen to and I do have this emotion
16:39when I think about when I'm using AI and
16:42writing and when you're and especially
16:45now if you're experiencing AI and
16:49writing like when you're seeing uh a
16:52menu for example and you can see that
16:54it's created by AI you kind of have a
16:57different feeling toward it like oh
17:00that could have been simpler or
17:03it's just and they have the term like AI
17:05slop.
17:07Why is it AI slop? Because it feels
17:09heartless. It feels like the human was
17:12taken out of it. So, how can we create
17:15work in our professional practice that
17:18feels authentic and human- centered so
17:22that the writing process still has the
17:28human at the heart and that's that's
17:31what I want to you to consider as you
17:34start to explore using AI and writing in
17:39this new hybrid format.
17:43Okay, let me share this screen. This is
17:46a framework for the writing process and
17:50this is from Bill and I've included as
17:54well in module one the full article so
17:57you're able to read that. My internet's
18:00just horribly slow today.
18:03Just give me a moment while this
18:04populates.
18:15Just one second.
18:18I'm going to stop my video. Hopefully
18:20this Oh, there we go.
18:29Scroll up to the first page.
18:47Okay,
18:50Bill, can you see that? Okay,
18:53>> I have to go back to the window. Hold
18:54on. I see it just fine. Yes.
18:57>> Okay. So, this is the framework for the
18:59writing process.
19:03Do you want to go on?
19:04>> Oh, you want me to take over? Okay,
19:06sure.
19:06>> Yes. Yes.
19:07>> I thought you were still just kind of
19:09doing an interview. So,
19:10>> oh, I was trying to share the screen.
19:13>> Okay. So, um a little background on this
19:17paper. This was written, [clears throat]
19:18the paper behind this presentation was
19:20written in 1992 by a group of graduate
19:23students who were working with me at
19:26that time. The whole idea of using any
19:29kind of computer word processing was
19:31novel. Uh and the uh the challenge was
19:37that the the software kept changing all
19:39the time which made it very difficult to
19:41keep up and make it useful and a lot of
19:43people were just extremely resistant to
19:46using technology for writing. Um there's
19:49a long history of that. We can go back
19:51to uh Socrates. Socrates did not like
19:56the idea of writing at all, let alone
19:59with a computer. Um he uh he he thought
20:03that uh it would interfere with memory.
20:06It would prevent us from having um the
20:09the emotional contact with the ideas
20:11that that Joyce Lynn was talking about
20:13just a moment ago.
20:15um he thought it might have some uses
20:18for like oh accountants or bureaucrats
20:22or something like that but but not for
20:24students who are learning that's that's
20:26just inappropriate. Now the interesting
20:29thing about that story is that we know
20:31that Socrates thought those things
20:33because his student Plato wrote them
20:36down.
20:39So his thoughts about writing and how we
20:41shouldn't be doing it, how it should be
20:43interaction between people that that
20:45focuses on learning uh is available to
20:48us kind of ironically because of
20:51writing. So I'm asking you to think
20:55about what's your process
20:57when you're writing something, when
20:59you're writing a paper. It could be when
21:01you're writing a letter. Um, anybody
21:04want to offer anything that you do when
21:06you write?
21:17>> Can I add?
21:18>> Go ahead, Embraim.
21:21>> So, um, it was during co actually this
21:24is a, um, in my bucket list when I would
21:27retire that I would write a book on my
21:30life. So during COVID I was laid off. So
21:34I started writing stories. So short
21:36stories about life.
21:38And uh again writing for me is more I
21:43start writing thinking what like a like
21:46a like a mind map. I figure out first
21:50what uh what should be included in it.
21:54Uh somehow the emotions come in it as
21:57I'm writing. So it's it's continuously I
21:59keep on writing keep on writing and then
22:01when I edit it it's that it's at that
22:04stage where I go and organize it just
22:06for the unity of ideas. So my first
22:09thing is just I keep on writing whatever
22:11is there and then um I organize it but
22:15at times I try to you know um do like a
22:19mind map but somehow that doesn't work
22:22when I'm writing it's the it's overcome
22:24with emotions or if it's personal that
22:27overcomes the flowchart and it's it goes
22:30down the drain of the flowchart.
22:33>> Okay, thank you for that. Anyone else?
22:41Okay. Um,
22:43another approach that's frequently what
22:46uh
22:46>> I think Darlene has her hand up.
22:48>> Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
22:50>> You can't see it in my leaves.
22:52>> Yeah, [laughter]
22:54>> I'll have to change the color of my hand
22:55or something. Um, I I'm kind of like a
22:58bream. I have to I I like to think of it
23:01as like a dump. like I just have to get
23:03everything out and then I can start
23:06organizing.
23:08>> That's exactly that's exactly what I was
23:10going to talk about as another another
23:13way sometimes called stream of
23:15consciousness. It's just pour out
23:17whatever's in your head onto the paper
23:19like pouring it out of a bucket bucket
23:22get it down there and then you know
23:24figure out what you're going to do with
23:25it later. Um those are both common
23:28approaches. There's there's nothing
23:29wrong with either of them. uh you make
23:32work for you whatever works for you. Um
23:37Abby move on to the next screen.
23:41Joyce,
23:44thank you. As Joyce suggested earlier,
23:47the the the model that we proposed in
23:50that 1992 paper was based on um what had
23:55been done in terms of the writing
23:58process prior to people making much use
24:01of word processors. They were just
24:03beginning to have an an impact.
24:05Interestingly enough, very little has
24:09been done since 1992
24:12on um what constitutes the process of
24:15writing. So these these four steps,
24:20stages, elements in the writing process
24:23are what appeared to uh my graduate
24:26students and I when we were looking at
24:29the literature up to 1992. So, the first
24:32one was to generate ideas, which is what
24:35we were just talking about, just getting
24:37stuff out of your head and onto paper or
24:41a screen. Uh, they don't have to be
24:43related to one another, but they could
24:45be. So, that's what the little little
24:48lines connecting the ideas are. They're
24:50just for some people. Um, I can't
24:53remember which author it was now. Um,
24:57one one famous author kept peach a peach
25:00basket or keep peach baskets on his desk
25:04and he would write things down ideas and
25:07throw them into a peach basket and then
25:09he thought of something he thought might
25:11be related he'd throw it that peach
25:12basket and he had several peach baskets
25:15going at the same time. So he was
25:17getting some organization on the ideas
25:19there. But the next step for most people
25:21then it is a process of putting the the
25:24ideas into uh some form of connection
25:30between one another.
25:33I was taught in grade 8
25:36uh to do that by gathering up my ideas
25:39on index cards, little square pieces of
25:43of cardboard. They probably still exist
25:46somewhere. Um, and then you could put
25:49those uh into order. You could rank
25:52them. You could put them in little
25:54piles, whatever. Uh, and maybe if you
25:58had three or four of them together,
26:00those three or four ideas would come to
26:01be a paragraph. Um, but the step that we
26:06would go through between putting the
26:08ideas together and putting them uh on on
26:12a maybe on a desk in some organized way
26:15was to create an outline. Uh, and that
26:18was part of the that was part of what
26:20was taught as the writing process in the
26:241950s and60s and I think earlier. Um, so
26:28you have the you have the the
26:31cardboard index cards with the the ideas
26:34on them. You have them in an order. You
26:36have subetss and you create an outline
26:40to represent what's in that pile. When
26:44you've got all of that, then the next
26:47step um I'm saying next step kind of
26:50cautiously because I'm going to come
26:51back to that is to compose. So in in the
26:56generate place the idea might be just
26:58three words, two words. Uh might be a
27:01picture. It's something a cartoon that
27:04you draw. It's something that puts the
27:06idea, it documents the idea in some way
27:08or another. But composing is putting all
27:12of that organized information into
27:16sentences
27:17and the sentences into paragraphs. the
27:21creation of a linear sequence of text
27:25because that's the way we normally think
27:28of reading as happening. Um, one idea
27:31following another. So, when you've done
27:34that, you've gathered the information,
27:35you've organized the information, you've
27:37you've written it in a linear sequence,
27:41then you can begin revi revising it. Uh
27:45when you see it all together, you might
27:47think, well, no, this this sentence
27:49really doesn't belong at the beginning.
27:51It belongs at the end. It should I
27:53should move it from the very beginning
27:54to the very end because it really says
27:56what I'm thinking powerfully. Whatever
28:00uh you you make changes in the process
28:03of revision. Now the reason I said I
28:06said next step uh kind of hesitantly is
28:08because we don't see that process as
28:12generate, organize, compose, revise. We
28:15see it as an iterative process. So it
28:18could be generate, organize, generate
28:20some more, organize some more, generate,
28:23do some composing, go back to
28:24organizing, generate some more, go to
28:27composing, revise some. Now that it's
28:30revised, start all over again. gather
28:33more information, do more so on. So,
28:35it's a process of uh putting all of
28:38these steps together uh repeatedly in
28:42order to get the document uh that you
28:44want.
28:46Any questions about that before I move
28:48on?
28:53Now 1992 is a particularly good point of
28:56reference here because
29:00at about that point in time we began to
29:03see hypertext appearing. So the kinds of
29:06links that we see all the time nowadays
29:09in in documents that send us from one
29:11place to another, that's a change from
29:16the linear sequence of ideas that has
29:19been associated with uh had been
29:21associated with writing up until that
29:23point in time. And so hyperlinking
29:27uh allows things like Wikipedia in which
29:30you have the opportunity to jump around
29:32from idea to idea to idea in different
29:34on different pages.
29:37Um that's a radical change in reading
29:39not just writing in reading and how we
29:42organize information how we think about
29:44information. It's a new set of skills
29:46for human beings.
29:48Um,
29:51we uh trying to think why I have that
29:54gener there. I've lost track of why
29:57that's important. I guess just to
29:58illustrate the idea of thinking and the
30:01power behind it. But um Oh, it's a
30:06generator. That's why. Uh
30:09the um
30:14this the question there is would you
30:16would you organize generate information
30:19differently if you were doing all of
30:22these different things? A course paper
30:23for different subjects, an email to your
30:26mother, a short story, uh as Darlene was
30:29talking about, uh a novel. Would writing
30:31a novel require a process different from
30:34writing a short story? Would all of them
30:36be different from a policy document? And
30:38would any of them be anything like the
30:40love letter that Joyce Lynn got? Chances
30:44are something very different goes on
30:46when you do any one of these. And and
30:48and it's different from the beginning.
30:50It's intentional. Uh that's an important
30:53point about when we what we do when we
30:55write. We we write with intention and
30:58usually we want the reader to understand
31:03our intentions. Next screen.
31:09So the process of organizing can be
31:11broken down into all of these different
31:13possibilities. You will have this you
31:15can look at it later. Uh it breaks down
31:17the different steps like verising and ed
31:19revising and editing. Um doing a grammar
31:23check yourself or doing [snorts] a
31:25grammar check with um software or an AI
31:29getting peers to review documents. Um,
31:34I sent Joyce Lyn a document just today,
31:37uh, or actually I sent her a whole
31:38course, um, with the hopes that she
31:41would take, uh, a look at that and make
31:43suggestions about removing it, uh,
31:45reviewing it, re revising it, um, and
31:50style improvement. We'll talk another
31:51day about what constitutes style and how
31:54you might think about uh choosing. But
31:57the the process of organizing is similar
32:00to this tray of buttons and beads and
32:02flowers. Uh it's putting things in
32:05places where they are related. The
32:08related things are together and separate
32:10from other things. Move on.
32:18So I've got a sentence here. Central
32:22tendency is about loading locating the
32:25group of data on the number line. What
32:28one number best describes the location
32:31of the set of data as a whole?
32:38Any answers to that?
32:53Okay, it's probably good that you don't
32:55have answers to that because the answer
32:58is basically that
33:01which one of those things is the better
33:03choice depends on the context.
33:07Uh
33:08there are there are times when the mode
33:11the thing that happens most often is
33:13really what's important. Think about the
33:15voting that's going on in the states
33:17right now. What matters is how many
33:19people voted the same way. The median is
33:22useful if you want to be able to think
33:24about people in terms of their kind of
33:27relationship to a group um
33:32with particular emphasis on uh whether
33:35they are above or below
33:38a middle point. That's also often
33:41frequently what the arithmetic average
33:42is, but it's calculated differently and
33:45has has other implications for what you
33:48can do with the data. All of that has to
33:50do with context. Move on.
33:56So in addition to context, we have to be
33:59concerned about uh the process of
34:01composing. Composing is the putting
34:04together of things into sentences.
34:08Um it is the process of stringing words
34:11together. And the only advice I can give
34:14you about that is do it. put the words
34:18into a string. You may not like the
34:20string when you're done with it. That's
34:22okay. That's why we have revising.
34:25Um there's more on that in the uh
34:29writing an academic paper link at the
34:32bottom, but the
34:36um the challenge for an awful lot of
34:39people trying to write is to get
34:42started. And the point here is
34:46it doesn't matter how you get started.
34:49It doesn't matter what you put on paper
34:51or on your screen in the first instance.
34:54It just matters that you get something
34:56there that you can work from.
34:59Um,
35:01I used to suggest to people frequently
35:03that if you're if you have what I'm
35:05describing, which is writer's block,
35:09um, one way of getting over writer's
35:11block is to start writing something
35:12else. Write a menu, write a recipe,
35:16write a letter to your mom.
35:19That gets you writing. Then you can turn
35:23your attention to the other uh to the
35:26document you want to write. You're
35:27already writing. Now you just have to
35:29keep it up.
35:31AI can be very helpful with this process
35:35because you can ask AI a question and
35:37take whatever it gives you as the answer
35:40as something to work with. You don't
35:43have to face a blank screen. You don't
35:45have to face a blank piece of paper. You
35:48can start out with something already
35:50there that you can work on. You can
35:53compose with go on
36:00just a few quotes about writing.
36:14Most of these are reiterating what I've
36:17what I've said uh before. The one I
36:20particularly like on this screen is is
36:22Thomas Jefferson.
36:24Um, you will see that idea
36:28repeated over and over and over again on
36:31advice to writers.
36:34Brevity is the king.
36:39If you poll high school English
36:41teachers, they will tell you that
36:43simple, direct sentences is the key to
36:48successful writing.
36:50If you look at what papers they give
36:53high marks to, generally they are papers
36:57full of long and complex sentences.
37:00So it's advice that we give people. It's
37:03advice we have taking have difficulty
37:05taking ourselves and even it is advice
37:08that it's difficult to use in marking
37:11other people's work.
37:13Um
37:15a simple explanation of your ideas is
37:17generally to be preferred.
37:20Another the other thing I like the other
37:22quote I I like here is I write to
37:24discover what I know. Um a colleague of
37:27mine many years ago used to say that a
37:29different way. He said, "I don't I don't
37:30know what I think until I see what I
37:33write."
37:35Um, if you ponder that idea for a while,
37:38I think you'll see that sometimes you
37:39start writing something and all of a
37:41sudden in the process of writing, you
37:44learn something. Not from the documents
37:48you're looking at or whatever, but just
37:50from the process of writing. It's
37:52clarifying your own ideas. It's getting
37:54you to think. Go on.
38:02Okay. So, these are all different steps,
38:06possibilities for the idea of revising
38:10um everyone from Church Hill to uh oh,
38:15what's his name? The uh the horror
38:17writer that's very popular at Halloween.
38:21What's his name?
38:22>> Stephen King.
38:23>> Stephen King. Yeah. Uh Stephen King has
38:26a book on writing and he repeats and
38:29repeats and repeats the idea that for
38:34writing to be good you need to revise it
38:36over and over and over again. Jack
38:39London [clears throat] on the other hand
38:42um had a habit of
38:45sending papers out to uh publishers
38:47either magazine publishers or book
38:49publishers and waiting for them to
38:51respond. And early in his career, he had
38:55hundreds of articles that were that he
38:57had written, sent out, and got back with
39:00a rejection letter. He threw all those
39:03rejection letters in their envelopes on
39:05the floor under his desk. And when he
39:07couldn't think of something to write,
39:09he'd get one of them out, put it in a
39:12new envelope, and send it to a new
39:15magazine or book publisher and change it
39:18at all. Um
39:22later on he figured out that in order to
39:24be successful he needed to be taking the
39:27advice people were giving him and
39:28revising the work. Next.
39:38Um,
39:40so this work uh is something you can
39:45get. I I don't think I have a link for
39:47it here for you, but I will send this to
39:49you if the idea if the if the topic
39:51interests you. Uh this appears uh in a
39:55research journal and it is about
40:00what we could learn in Northern Ireland
40:05about ending denominational schooling as
40:09was done in Newfoundland. In Northern
40:12Ireland that denominational schooling
40:14serves served still serves to maintain
40:18separation among communities.
40:22It did that in Newfoundland as well. So
40:24in 1998 they had they had a a vote and
40:28they ended that there's only one school
40:30system now, not two separate school
40:32systems. We could ask ourselves if
40:35there's a lesson to be learned from for
40:37Ontario in that. But our task was to
40:41look at lessons for Northern Ireland.
40:42And the interesting thing here is we
40:45have one guy in Ontario, one guy at
40:47Memorial in Newfoundland, and one guy at
40:51uh Olster University which is in
40:52Northern Ireland.
40:56So
40:58we each had a perspective on what had
41:01happened in Newf Finland and we each
41:04wrote about our own backgrounds and
41:06experiences in relationship to uh those
41:09questions.
41:11And when we were done, uh, we put them
41:15we put those pieces together and put
41:17them in order and had about 16,000 or
41:2118,000 words alto together.
41:25And the journal we wanted to sub submit
41:28the paper to had a upper limit of 8,000
41:31words.
41:32So we had to cut the document in half.
41:34We had to get rid of half of what we had
41:37spent all that time and energy writing,
41:41organizing, revising, generating,
41:45composing, organizing and so on.
41:49In this process, we found it really
41:52valuable uh at after everything was
41:56written
41:58for me to have an AI read what we had
42:03written [clears throat] sort of one
42:05paragraph at a time because I could say
42:09to Gerald or to Roger, you know, this
42:13paragraph is unnecessary.
42:16And they would think, yeah, what do you
42:18know, Bill?
42:19Um, I mean, you're not here.
42:23Uh, or you know, Gerald could say,
42:25"Well, Roger, come on. Uh, I'm trying to
42:27give you the perspective from Newland.
42:30If we had AI
42:32suggest changes for us, uh, to cut the
42:36the the length of the document, the
42:38stuff it cut out was dispassionate. We
42:43had to recognize that it didn't care who
42:46which of us wrote it. it. It didn't care
42:48what our perspectives were. It cared
42:50about the task we gave it. Make this
42:53shorter.
42:55Um, so that was one example, I think, of
42:58putting AI to use in a very constructive
43:01way uh in a professional writing test.
43:04Next,
43:09okay, we can we can move beyond this.
43:11We've talked about this enough.
43:15So this is just reiterating the the four
43:19uh steps, elements, components. Go on.
43:25This also is reiterating them and
43:28referring you to uh an article, a more
43:30recent article on advice for using
43:33structured approaches. And go ahead,
43:36that's okay. Uh and a uh
43:41a link to the resources behind this
43:43paper.
43:45uh this presentation
43:47and I think that's that. Am I right?
43:56Okay. So, any any questions after we've
43:58gone through that whole presentation?
44:06>> No arguments.
44:08I didn't offend anybody. Come on.
44:13I'm just going to log back into the
44:15present the gamut presentation. Just
44:17give me one moment.
44:19>> Okay.
44:28If I'm not offending anybody, I'll have
44:30to try harder.
44:31>> Near has her hand up. Go ahead, Near.
44:35>> Um,
44:37well, I'm not offended, but uh I have a
44:40question. And so as uh Bill you were
44:43talking that the article was quite long
44:46and utilized like AI to do that but uh
44:51so did did the did the usage of AI did
44:55it uh included everything that you guys
44:58were talking about in those 17 to 18,000
45:03words or was there any kind of
45:05information that was omitted or was it
45:07like it was it altered anyway?
45:11Really good question. That's a really
45:13good question. For the most part,
45:17the AI
45:19uh did not suggest completely throwing
45:23anything out.
45:26Um but it did suggest that sometimes and
45:29for the most part we accepted that
45:32advice.
45:34But
45:36whoever wrote that section usually had
45:38to be persuaded.
45:40Uh the the other two of us had to say,
45:43"No, look, really, we we said that
45:45somewhere else." Um we really don't need
45:49to make that point. Whatever.
45:52Um, more often though, uh, it just found
45:57more economical
46:00language to say the same things that we
46:04were saying. Uh, so that was
46:06non-controversial.
46:09An important thing that I think I need
46:11to add to this and thank you for raising
46:13the question is when we submitted that
46:17paper, we submitted it with uh a note to
46:22the editor explaining exactly how we
46:25used AI. Uh because the journal says it
46:30doesn't accept papers that were written
46:33by AI.
46:35uh they did accept that paper because we
46:37had explained exactly how we used it and
46:39they it was clear that the AI did not
46:41write the paper. Uh any suggestions the
46:44AI made became something we used to do
46:47further revisions rather than uh became
46:51substitutes for what we had to say.
46:57>> Okay.
47:00So it didn't do any kind of biasness as
47:02you were saying that it was it was
47:04actually giving you an more economical
47:06language right but you know the models
47:09of AI we dealing with at one point or
47:12other do they try to enter their own
47:15biasness one way or other it might be in
47:18the running process even or try to even
47:21change like when we give the continuous
47:22prompt like this has been observed with
47:24so many AI generator models like when
47:27you give continuous prompting I have
47:29tried this with an article actually this
47:31thing happened to me. So you know uh in
47:342023 I was doing my masters of education
47:36from Lakehead University.
47:39So we were doing this article for the
47:41place based education. So I was giving
47:44the continuous prompt to the AI to I was
47:48pasting the article continuously at the
47:51end it totally changed the meaning and
47:53you know I I was like surprised like
47:55what has happened over the time did that
47:58happen with you guys.
48:01I don't think we had anything comparable
48:05to that near Amry. Um but
48:09but that experience you're right uh is
48:11common and we will be addressing that in
48:17much more detail but in another course.
48:20We're introducing a new course called
48:22>> okay
48:23>> uh learner agency and the management of
48:26AI error. So what you were seeing was AI
48:29error. it should not have been
48:31introducing new ideas that you hadn't
48:34prompted it for. Um,
48:38an interesting one one thing that I I
48:40can tell you uh I recommend in that new
48:43course is if you think the AI is doing
48:46something like that, confront it.
48:50Say, "Wait a minute. You have introduced
48:54a whole new idea here. I wasn't talking
48:56about that. Where did that come from?
48:58Why are you saying that?
49:01Does that matter? Have I missed
49:02something? Uh get it to justify whatever
49:06it has said. That often will help. Often
49:08it will say, "Oh, I I made a mistake. I
49:11shouldn't have done that." Uh but
49:14sometimes it will then go on to explain,
49:16"I I I shouldn't have done that, but but
49:18here's why I did it." And sometimes
49:21there's very valuable information in why
49:23it did that.
49:29Andrea.
49:33>> Yeah, thank you for the presentation. I
49:35I really like all the process of
49:37writing. I wonder um how can AI be hand
49:43with this process when we teach students
49:46how to write in English for example
49:48because uh you know once you start using
49:52AI you might forget about all these
49:54process. So how this process is
49:56integrated when using AI?
50:02>> Yeah. Um
50:06there's
50:08there's a whole lot to say about that,
50:10Andrea, and I think we'll be saying it
50:12repeatedly various answers to that
50:14question during the course. Uh if you
50:17take a look at the um the X files,
50:23one of the that's that's the extra
50:26module in the course. One of the links
50:29in the X files is a link to to something
50:32um called recent AI news.
50:37And that's a wiki page that I keep
50:39updating with information that's
50:41appearing in the popular press. It's not
50:43research literature. It's just you know
50:46uh popular press articles about AI
50:50and a recent one
50:53revealed that students are now students
50:56who do not use AI students who kind of
51:00on principal say I'm not going to write
51:01you with AI I'm not going to use AI are
51:04finding that they have to work hard
51:07to not look like they're writing AI to
51:11make sure that they don't use things
51:13that people think are AI. So even for
51:17people who aren't using AI, AI is
51:20changing the way they write
51:22and that has some benefits
51:24because it means that they're avoiding
51:26some often trit language that uh the AI
51:30uses
51:32but it also means that they may end up
51:35writing um more complex papers violating
51:39that notion of simplicity that I was
51:41talking about directness earlier. So
51:44you've you've asked a very important and
51:46very complex question and I hope you'll
51:49ask it again later when we've had more
51:51opportunity to talk about related ideas.
51:54>> Thank you.
51:59>> Thank you for your questions. I'll
52:00continue with the presentation and
52:03Andrea it's very possible that we will
52:06start to explore the answer to your
52:08question through some of this practical
52:10application in the second half as well.
52:13Just to summarize um Bill's framework
52:16for the writing process, here is another
52:20framework and it is similar. So when you
52:25look at the article that uh Bill had
52:27written from '92, there is a there is a
52:30summary of different frameworks um from
52:34other writers like uh Collins and
52:38Gentner who said writing operates under
52:41constraints related to structure,
52:43content and purpose. Um Smith at all
52:46said writing consists of prewriting,
52:48organizing, writing and editing. they're
52:50all similar and this is a different uh
52:54framework so that you see that the
52:56similarities require the cyclical
52:59pattern. So the review process of adding
53:02to it and taking away and editing and so
53:06the commonality that many of the
53:08frameworks have is uh the revision
53:11process of going back um and iterating.
53:18And if I heard your qu question
53:20correctly, Andrea, you were asking about
53:22how can you start to use this in with
53:25students? How can you start to use AI?
53:28And this slide talks about the role of
53:31computers in general in writing. And um
53:34like when Bill was talking about uh in
53:37'92 when word processors were first
53:40introduced a similar kind of anxiety
53:42started to um come about educators like
53:46how is this going to change the writing
53:48process and whatnot but um here are some
53:52questions to also consider. So reflect
53:54on a recent writing project. How would
53:57you adapt your process to incorporate AI
54:00tools at each stage to improve
54:02efficiency or quality? So these this
54:06question itself it's like well how am I
54:08going to add AI? What am I going to do
54:10in this roing writing process to include
54:13uh AI literacy for my students? How does
54:16breaking down the writing process into
54:19generating, organizing, composing and
54:22revising help clarify your approach to
54:25writing? So even making chunks can help
54:29you start to organize. Even breaking
54:32down your writing into chunks can help
54:34you start to organize and think about
54:36how I can start to use that chunk um in
54:40a using AI. How can I intersect uh AI
54:44writing?
54:45In what ways can AI tools enhance or
54:49change your personal writing process?
54:52Are there any stages where you would
54:54prefer not to use AI? And this and I'm
54:59thinking about Embra where you were
55:00saying in the pandemic you were writing
55:02um your ideas, putting them out there
55:04and it was getting um like you had an
55:08emotional process to it. But where what
55:11were the stages that you would now take
55:14to enhance that?
55:16what direction would you want to take
55:17that writing and what's the context that
55:20you want to explore and you can use AI
55:23to start to develop different writing
55:27styles depending on the context of how
55:30you want to present your writing.
55:34Okay,
55:36I want you to click this open. This is
55:38short stories.
55:41Short trip stories. Which one
55:45did chat GPT write? My computer's a
55:49little bit slow here. So, click the link
55:51if you have the
55:54the article here
55:58and
55:59I'm going to keep this open. I want I'll
56:02give you a few minutes each of you to
56:04read the three stories. So, trip bound
56:08for everywhere. There's a second one,
56:10trip bound for somewhere,
56:13and a third one, tripbound for nowhere.
56:19I will give you a few minutes and then
56:22feel free to unmute your mic.
56:26Tell me which one or which ones
56:30you think that chat GPT wrote.
56:33Okay, so feel free. I know it's small on
56:36my screen, but you do have access to the
56:38link. Is there anyone that does not have
56:41access to short stories? Short trip
56:44stories.
56:46You're all good.
56:47>> Is it in Canvas?
56:49>> It's in the gamma. So, let me give you
56:53the link.
56:57I'll put the link inside the chat
57:05if you don't have the gamma open.
57:07Jessica may already done that.
57:09>> Oh, thank you, Jessica.
57:10>> Yeah, she did.
57:12>> Awesome. Jessica's put the link in the
57:15chat for everyone.
57:34Okay, so take your time. three stories.
57:38Let me know which one you feel chat GPT
57:41wrote or which ones
57:44>> and why.
57:47>> The winner gets a break. [laughter]
57:53Okay. And I want to answer [laughter]
58:39I'll also disclose that one of the
58:41authors of one of these stories is Bill
58:45Hunter.
58:49>> Really?
58:51You've forgotten.
58:54I didn't forget.
58:58This actually is the first task I did
59:02with my students in principles of
59:05learning in 2024.
59:082023
59:11>> 2024
59:13>> when uh when AI was fresh new at least a
59:17chatp was fresh and new uh
59:22and Joyce Lynn was in that class
59:30I was telling Bill that I happened to
59:31meet him on my birthday so my first
59:34master's class started on my birthday so
59:37it was a nice birthday present.
59:50Ambrien has a guess and I'll read it
59:52out. She thinks it's story number two
59:54that's written by chat GPT. The language
59:57is too flowery.
1:00:02So she thinks trainbound for somewhere.
1:00:09Lena, you think story 3 is written by
1:00:12who? A human chat GPT.
1:00:15>> Chat GP3. And why?
1:00:18[laughter]
1:00:18Uh it might be embarrassing but um I
1:00:22guess that the use of of the m dash
1:00:26I found that yeah chat dp use it a lot
1:00:30and also the listing and listing and
1:00:32listing of ideas when I see a lot of
1:00:35commas
1:00:37um and the m dash to me those are red
1:00:40flags because
1:00:43it's punctuation I know but that's the
1:00:46trick I use with my students.
1:00:49Okay.
1:00:52So, that is uh that is a clue for some
1:00:56AI writing, but it's not it's it's not
1:01:00always the proof, so I'm not giving you
1:01:02the answer yet. We have someone else.
1:01:05So, uh Jessica says, "Chat GPT wrote
1:01:09story one."
1:01:11Story 1 and three are written by AI,
1:01:13says Andrea. Jennifer says, "I think any
1:01:16of these could be written by chat GPT."
1:01:20>> My feelings.
1:01:25>> Okay. And the answer is
1:01:30>> I wrote number three.
1:01:33>> Yay. I got it right. [laughter]
1:01:36>> I wrote it on a train in Scotland
1:01:41>> before Chad GPT existed.
1:01:44And I had to change it a little bit be
1:01:47before I put it on this task because
1:01:50when I wrote it on that train, it didn't
1:01:52say shut the hell up. It was stronger
1:01:56language.
1:01:58And if I had written the stronger
1:02:00language in
1:02:02this document,
1:02:04that would have been a dead giveaway
1:02:06that it wasn't written by AI.
1:02:14Okay. So, I guess you guys get to have a
1:02:17break. I will start the timer. We'll
1:02:20come back in 10 minutes
1:02:24and I'll share the timer here and
1:02:28uh we'll explore some AI apps. I'll
1:02:32stick around for a couple of minutes as
1:02:34well if you do have any questions. So
1:02:36are you saying that only the the the
1:02:39final one was not written by Chad GP by
1:02:44AI?
1:02:45>> That's right. It was not written by AI.
1:02:48I
1:02:48>> everywhere and somewhere were written by
1:02:51by it. Okay.
1:02:53>> Yes. Bill wrote the last one. The first
1:02:55two were AI generated.
1:02:58>> Thank you.
1:02:59>> You're welcome.
1:03:00>> I'll explain a little when we come back.
1:03:36where folks are trying to get to learn
1:03:39something real.
1:03:41I've got a soft spot for long shots.
1:03:45People trying to build bridges where
1:03:47others see walls.
1:03:49Race, profession, discipline, doesn't
1:03:52matter. If you're trying to connect
1:03:54across lines, I'm your guy. See, I
1:03:58believe in tech. Not the cold kind that
1:04:01crunches numbers and forgets your name.
1:04:03I'm talking about the kind of bring the
1:04:05kind that brings people together, that
1:04:08sparks understanding, that makes a kid
1:04:10in one corner of the world nod along
1:04:12with a teacher in another. That's the
1:04:14kind of case I take. And AI? Yeah, I've
1:04:18got my eye on it. Not as a threat, but
1:04:20as a partner, a tool. something that if
1:04:24you treat it right can help you teach
1:04:26better, learn deeper, and maybe, just
1:04:29maybe, make sense of this crazy world.
1:04:33So, if you're looking for someone who
1:04:35still believes learning can change
1:04:37things, who thinks a wellplaced idea can
1:04:41hit harder than a 45, you found him. The
1:04:45name's Hunter, and I'm always on the
1:04:48case.
1:04:50So, that's me. However,
1:04:53uh also me
1:04:56is a link I just put in the chat where
1:04:59thank you where uh you'll find uh a a a
1:05:03website uh that gives you a bit about my
1:05:06my actual academic background very very
1:05:09quickly. I started out teaching English
1:05:12in 1972
1:05:17um and uh went on to get a doctorate in
1:05:20educational psychology. did work on
1:05:22moral reasoning in adults uh for my
1:05:26doctoral dissertation and for for
1:05:28several years of research after that.
1:05:30Most of my teaching has been in uh
1:05:32research uh methods, statistics,
1:05:35measurement
1:05:37um and uh for the last
1:05:4020 years primarily uh learning theory.
1:05:46I retired in uh September of 2024 and
1:05:51part of what I did then uh was to start
1:05:54building some AI expertise and some
1:05:58courses in continuous learning. So
1:06:01that's the
1:06:03um that's the gist of it.
1:06:07Thank you.
1:06:09>> Thank you, Bill.
1:06:12and we will resume with our presentation
1:06:15with AI writing tools and resources.
1:06:21Oh, actually, Bill, before I move on,
1:06:23did you want to review uh the short
1:06:26story short trips?
1:06:28>> Oh, yes. Thank you. Um,
1:06:31I just wanted to say that that the
1:06:34purpose of that exercise was to see
1:06:36first of all, could
1:06:39the AI actually produce something that
1:06:42looked like human writing? It was that
1:06:45early in in the process and I was very
1:06:47pleased that it did. Uh, I was a little
1:06:50disappointed
1:06:51that it made the the the pieces it wrote
1:06:56so closely tied to the one I wrote. Um,
1:07:01I had given it that one and asked it uh
1:07:04to write something similar uh about a
1:07:07train trip uh with a gambler theme. Uh,
1:07:11so I shouldn't have been surprised when
1:07:14it when it it did it the way it did. Um,
1:07:18there someone Darlene maybe uh noticed
1:07:22that all of the
1:07:24uh M dashes. I'm always pleased when
1:07:27somebody notices M dashes because a lot
1:07:29of people don't even know what an M dash
1:07:31is. Um I use a lot of M dashes and AI is
1:07:38copying it from me. So just bear that in
1:07:41mind.
1:07:43That's it.
1:07:46I have a question.
1:07:47>> Sure.
1:07:48>> So I I know uh I studied from the
1:07:51British system and when we were taught
1:07:54writing I mean I did my masters in
1:07:55literature
1:07:57they stressed so much on the five senses
1:08:00include those when you're writing. So
1:08:03that's where I got confused especially
1:08:05in the first story that it did include
1:08:08the senses right. Yes. Too much flowery
1:08:12language is is a thing which we were
1:08:14even taught that too much of that spoils
1:08:16the writing.
1:08:18>> Yes.
1:08:19>> How do we how do we manage that? So I
1:08:22say writing now has become more
1:08:24difficult then because as you mentioned
1:08:26earlier that on that research that
1:08:29students are finding it difficult if
1:08:30they're not using AI how to change their
1:08:33writing. So is it changing the writing
1:08:36style as well? Um it's all it's a whole
1:08:39thought process.
1:08:41That's a great question, Amber. Um,
1:08:48I
1:08:54it's a it's a process of formalizing our
1:08:57thought, whether we put that thought on
1:09:00paper or put it in a screen or put it
1:09:03into a presentation.
1:09:05Um,
1:09:06it it's a it's a difficult task to make
1:09:11sure that you are saying what you mean
1:09:15and that it's having the impact that you
1:09:17want it to have.
1:09:19Um,
1:09:22all too often people actually don't pay
1:09:25attention to questions of style. They
1:09:28don't really focus on their intent.
1:09:32It It's not as purposive. it's more
1:09:34stream of consciousness whatever came to
1:09:37them uh as they were trying to do the
1:09:40task. So I appreciate that you have a
1:09:43sensitivity to the formalities of of
1:09:46writing and to the the challenges
1:09:49imposed by it. Um, so for me, uh, AI is,
1:09:55like I said in in my introduction, it's
1:09:58a tool and often it saves me a lot of
1:10:02time because it gives me something to
1:10:05start working with
1:10:08and sometimes it it helps me to find
1:10:11resources
1:10:12to give more credibility to what I'm
1:10:16writing.
1:10:19But I'm not sure that in the end uh it's
1:10:22saving me effort. It's changing what I
1:10:25do. Uh but I still have to take
1:10:30responsibility for the final product. I
1:10:33still have to write com do do the
1:10:35composing. I still have to uh edit and
1:10:38check. Uh I have to find errors that
1:10:41it's made, errors that I've made. Uh it
1:10:45if it's going to be a good product, it's
1:10:47a rigorous process. Anyone
1:10:56else?
1:11:00Okay, over to you, Jocelyn.
1:11:03Thank you.
1:11:05Good questions. Okay, so we can
1:11:08implement those questions and put them
1:11:10into practice and use different tools.
1:11:13And here are some AI tools that I'll
1:11:16introduce you to if you're not familiar
1:11:18with them. Um, these are clickable
1:11:20links. So, if you have the gamma,
1:11:24you can navigate to this page and you
1:11:26should be able to open each of these in
1:11:28a new tab. These are applications that
1:11:32you can access as a premium. And so you
1:11:35can access them um with free with a
1:11:39Gmail, Microsoft for example, an email
1:11:42account and up to a certain limit. So
1:11:48um these are different tools that I'll
1:11:51show you. Has anybody ever used uh
1:11:54illicit before?
1:12:01Okay. So, I'm just going to share my I'm
1:12:04going to navigate around and share my
1:12:05screen. So, just bear with me as I log
1:12:08into
1:12:09um Elicit here.
1:12:27Okay.
1:12:37Okay. So, this is illicit
1:12:42and I've created a prompt and I'm going
1:12:45to enter this prompt. I've already
1:12:47entered it here, but I'll show you the
1:12:51results based on the prompt. So the
1:12:54prompt that I'm entering into these
1:12:55different uh tools is something you can
1:12:59enter as well. So if you have a project
1:13:00you're working on and a specific prompt
1:13:02that you want to explore. Let's say for
1:13:04your capstone project, try these
1:13:06different tools. Try them um with the
1:13:08same prompt and just compare the output
1:13:10and see what is better for you in terms
1:13:14of the context. So for um illicit, I've
1:13:20entered this prompt. What does research
1:13:22suggest about the effects of generative
1:13:25AI feedback on university students
1:13:27writing skills? Identify relevant
1:13:29studies, summarize their findings and
1:13:31limitations, and distinguish
1:13:34improved writing quality from students
1:13:37perceptions of improvement, provide
1:13:40verifiable references. And so I've asked
1:13:43elicit this and it's given me this
1:13:46summary and it's also given me links as
1:13:49well for the sources
1:13:53as well as the verifiable references
1:13:57also some methods. So the output for
1:14:00this says the evidence points to a
1:14:02modest conditional benefit, not a
1:14:04general proof that generative AI
1:14:06feedback builds durable writing skills
1:14:09and then gives me a few different
1:14:11articles of research for me to reference
1:14:14for that for that question that I've put
1:14:16into the prompt. So that's illicit. You
1:14:19can continue your conversation with
1:14:22illicit. I used elicit throughout my
1:14:26entirety of uh the master's program and
1:14:30so that was 10 different courses where I
1:14:32was able to cross reference research and
1:14:37for example you can click on the
1:14:39articles research and find uh an
1:14:43abstract and then look deeper and find
1:14:46the actual article. So these are helpful
1:14:49for research tools to find uh
1:14:52publications.
1:14:54I'm going to now go to
1:14:58Perplexity. Has anybody tried
1:15:01Perplexity?
1:15:02>> Yeah, I use Perplexity.
1:15:05>> Okay, great. So you have some
1:15:08uh you have some experience with it. All
1:15:11of these tools are going to be similar
1:15:13in how they look, but the output, since
1:15:16it's generative AI, it searches for
1:15:19patterns in the text. And so all of the
1:15:21outputs will be a little bit different.
1:15:24Asking the same question, I've entered
1:15:26the same prompt. I get a different
1:15:29output of a summary. And so this
1:15:33uh perplexity has given me
1:15:37relevant studies in an actual grid. And
1:15:41so these are other links that you can
1:15:44click on for verifiable sources and it's
1:15:48provided it in uh a grid where it has
1:15:51the design and sample, the main findings
1:15:53and key limitations. So sort of like an
1:15:56abstract summary.
1:15:59Um when I was in my undergrad and
1:16:04masters, I spent hours and hours
1:16:06creating these summaries and now with
1:16:08one prompt, it generates it in seconds.
1:16:12So it's incredible to see how you need
1:16:16to really level up your writing skills
1:16:18because this can be generated uh
1:16:21instantaneously
1:16:23and also check your sources to make sure
1:16:26that they exist. Okay, so that's another
1:16:29writing tool that you could explore for
1:16:32research purposes. That's called
1:16:34perplexity.
1:16:37Um, research rabbit. Has anybody used
1:16:40research rabbit?
1:16:43Andrea has used research rabbit.
1:16:45>> Excellent. And Jessica as well. This is
1:16:48a little bit different the way that
1:16:51research rabbit finds information. Um,
1:16:54I've entered just keywords here. So, a
1:16:58similar prompt, but I've just sourced
1:17:00out the keyword. So, I've asked it for
1:17:02generative AI feedback, university
1:17:04students writing skills, and it pulls up
1:17:07these articles. Now, with research
1:17:10rabbit, I I believe they gave it this
1:17:12name because you enter a rabbit hole.
1:17:14So, you can spend hours here upon
1:17:17finding your research to find connected
1:17:20related articles. and they're connected
1:17:23by either similar uh references or
1:17:27citations.
1:17:29And so all I entered here was generative
1:17:31AI feedback for university students.
1:17:35This takes a deeper dive. So I can click
1:17:40on similar
1:17:43and it will give me now a map of similar
1:17:47types of research that I can now
1:17:50explore. and it gives the date and who
1:17:52wrote it.
1:17:56And so if you click on this Barrett 2023
1:18:00on the right here, you get an abstract
1:18:03of that work that's related to the
1:18:05original
1:18:07prompt that you put in and then you can
1:18:10from here take a deeper dive on that
1:18:12article. So then it then does a similar
1:18:15search
1:18:17based on that Barrett article to
1:18:19connected articles
1:18:22and then you can search those articles
1:18:26as well.
1:18:30Research Rabbit also connects with
1:18:35plugins.
1:18:37Uh go ahead Lena. I have a question
1:18:40because I used connected papers. Have
1:18:43you heard of it? Because it looks very
1:18:45similar. So, I'd like to know if you
1:18:47know there's a difference.
1:18:49Oh,
1:18:49>> okay. No, I haven't used connected
1:18:51papers.
1:18:52>> Oh, okay.
1:18:53>> Is it uh similar with the research how
1:18:56it brings up?
1:18:57>> Yeah, very very similar. The mapping
1:18:59they look very similar like the same
1:19:02thing.
1:19:03>> Yes. So there will be many types of
1:19:05applications that offer similar types of
1:19:08uh output like chatgpt copilot etc.
1:19:11They're large language models. It's good
1:19:13to keep in mind the ones that you like
1:19:15that are working for you.
1:19:17Anic
1:19:21>> uh I was wondering is
1:19:23like what you're getting is it from all
1:19:27possible databases like you know uh from
1:19:32because like I remember well I mean I
1:19:34haven't done any search in a while but
1:19:37uh I remember you you had to pay to
1:19:40access some databases. Uh so is it now
1:19:44like [laughter]
1:19:46like accessible like is everything on
1:19:50the web so those tools will get
1:19:52everything or like is it like just those
1:19:55that are in North America or from some
1:19:59dates or anyway um it's a good question
1:20:03and I actually there's um an article
1:20:06that I share I think it's in next week's
1:20:10next week's uh session that it talks
1:20:13about the limitations and some copyright
1:20:16infringements that some large language
1:20:18models experience as well with payw
1:20:21walls. And so when you're asking about
1:20:24can I access some of these articles that
1:20:26are blocked, sometimes you can. And
1:20:27that's um that's because the large
1:20:32language model is able to access that um
1:20:37seamlessly and it's infringing on
1:20:40copyright laws. So there are some
1:20:42ethical principles that come along with
1:20:44this but uh with the sourcing you can
1:20:47see the link as well and sometimes there
1:20:51are dead links and so it's always
1:20:53important is this a source that I want
1:20:55to use? Is this a journal that's
1:20:57reputable? Is this research um is it is
1:21:03it does it actually exist?
1:21:05>> I see. So it's it's one tool, but if I
1:21:08were to write a scientific article, I
1:21:12would still go back to the, you know,
1:21:14doing a search in the databases. Okay.
1:21:17>> Like the good old times.
1:21:20>> Yes. It helps you find that research.
1:21:23>> Mhm.
1:21:24>> And link the additional research, but
1:21:27make sure that that research is
1:21:28existing.
1:21:29>> There's so many um links that I find
1:21:32with some of these tools. like I can
1:21:34enter a similar uh these tools give me
1:21:37better research. So I can enter a
1:21:39similar prompt in chat GPT and I'll get
1:21:41five out of 10 that are dead links like
1:21:43they don't exist. And so some of these
1:21:46tools are better than large language
1:21:48models because they're uh they're meant
1:21:51for research
1:21:52>> like this.
1:21:54>> Okay. Thank you.
1:21:55>> You're welcome, Anick. That's a good
1:21:57question. Jessica,
1:22:00>> hi. So, I can't help but um comment. So,
1:22:04I'm prefacing this by I'm an academic
1:22:07librarian here in Canada and so an um I
1:22:11would say that
1:22:13>> um consensus.
1:22:15>> Yes.
1:22:17Oh, I think I lost somebody. Um go
1:22:21ahead. Consensus and perplexity research
1:22:23rabbit and several other platforms are
1:22:27unique from say chatg clott or large
1:22:30language models they use something
1:22:32called um retrieval augmented generation
1:22:35which is called rag and if you look at
1:22:37their websites they've made legal
1:22:40agreements with the really big
1:22:42publishers so sage and wy and Taylor and
1:22:45Francis and um oh Blackwell and all of
1:22:49those folks. So when they make a claim
1:22:51like they have 400 million articles or
1:22:55millions and millions of results, they
1:22:57are pulling them from reputable
1:22:59collections that they've gotten
1:23:00permission to do. We can have a whole
1:23:02another discussion on whether or not the
1:23:04publisher should be doing that ethically
1:23:06with the copyright they hold, but that's
1:23:08what they're doing with their agreements
1:23:10for publication. Um, so it is in in at
1:23:15least in the places that I've worked, we
1:23:18do put them in a different box than or
1:23:21claude or something where they don't
1:23:23have those agreements. They are pulling
1:23:25things in a much less transparent way.
1:23:27They don't have the same scopes or the
1:23:30same uh parameters to kind of help keep
1:23:32them in the academic realm. So just take
1:23:36that as you will.
1:23:39>> That's great information, Jessica. Thank
1:23:40you for sharing that.
1:23:45Okay, I'm going to change my screen
1:23:47over.
1:23:51So, those are just some examples of
1:23:53additional tools to explore for
1:23:56different purposes of writing. So, are
1:23:58you researching? Are you editing? Are
1:24:02are you generating ideas?
1:24:06Okay. So, I want to explore this concept
1:24:08by Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton and this is
1:24:13the six tenets of pl of post plagiarism
1:24:18writing in the age of AI. And so
1:24:22just quickly,
1:24:24hybrid human AI writing will become the
1:24:27normal.
1:24:29Hybrid writing co-created by human and
1:24:31AI together is becoming prevalent. Soon
1:24:34it will be the normal. Trying to
1:24:36determine where the human ends and where
1:24:38the artificial AI begins is pointless
1:24:41and futile.
1:24:44The second tenant is human creativity is
1:24:46enhanced. Human creativity is enhanced,
1:24:49not threatened by AI. Humans can be
1:24:52inspired and be inspired by others.
1:24:56Language barriers disappear. One's first
1:24:59language will begin to matter less and
1:25:00less as tools become available for
1:25:02humans to understand each other in
1:25:04countless languages.
1:25:07Humans can relinquish control, but not
1:25:10responsibility.
1:25:12Humans can retain control over what they
1:25:14write, but they can also relinquish
1:25:16control to AI tools if they choose.
1:25:19Although humans can relinquish control,
1:25:21they do not relinquish responsibility
1:25:23for what is written. And so I think that
1:25:26answers many questions back to when
1:25:30you're asking how do I how do I sort out
1:25:33what I'm trying to say if AI is writing
1:25:36all of this info. It's still your
1:25:38responsibility. That information you put
1:25:41out there is still your responsibility.
1:25:43And so make sure that you're reviewing
1:25:46the work including the human.
1:25:49Uh attribution remains important. It's
1:25:51always been
1:25:53uh
1:25:55and humans learn in community with one
1:25:57another even when they are learning
1:25:59alone. Citing, referencing, and
1:26:01attribution rem remain important skills.
1:26:05And historical definitions of plagiarism
1:26:08no longer apply. Historical definition
1:26:11of plagiarism will not be rewritten
1:26:13because AI they will be transcended.
1:26:17policy definitions can and must adapt.
1:26:23Okay, so these are some considerations
1:26:26as well when you're using AI in your
1:26:29classroom, in your workplaces. How are
1:26:32you using AI?
1:26:35Um, and here are some questions to
1:26:37consider. I won't read them all out
1:26:38loud. I do want to get you into your
1:26:41breakout groups, but if you have
1:26:44questions, let me know.
1:26:49Okay. So,
1:26:51we have 20 minutes for this breakout
1:26:55session. So, what we'll do and I'll
1:26:58launch this activity.
1:27:03So,
1:27:06just building on that thought of the uh
1:27:10post plagiarism concept,
1:27:13tell your students what you allow. Every
1:27:15college and university has an AI honest
1:27:18or academic dishonesty statement.
1:27:21However, these statements are either
1:27:22written so broadly that there can be
1:27:24different interpretations of the
1:27:25language or these statements indicate
1:27:28that the responsibility of determining
1:27:30what is allowable depends on the
1:27:32instructor or both.
1:27:35So
1:27:38this is an AI policy from the UC San
1:27:41Diego's academic honesty policy. There's
1:27:44highlighted sections here that I want
1:27:47you to focus on and this is going to be
1:27:49your discussion post and you'll work in
1:27:53small groups. And so for this week's
1:27:55discussion post, I want you to work in
1:27:58your breakout groups and examine these
1:28:02statements. So no student shall allow
1:28:05any academic work or academic credit to
1:28:08be completed or obtained in part or in
1:28:11whole for themselves by another human or
1:28:14machine artificial intelligence.
1:28:17So this is a policy by UC San Diego.
1:28:21D. No student shall plagiarize or copy
1:28:23the work of others, human or machine,
1:28:25and submit it as their own work. and E.
1:28:28No student shall employ aids, including
1:28:30AI, in undertaking coursework or
1:28:33completing any assessments that are not
1:28:36authorized by the instructor.
1:28:39There are four questions under here
1:28:41underneath. This is your task is to
1:28:44respond and discuss this in your
1:28:46breakout groups.
1:28:50Which is which of these is a example of
1:28:53a violation of the policy? It's up to
1:28:55you to determine based on your
1:28:57interpretation of the policy. And so I
1:29:01want you to go into your breakout rooms,
1:29:05review C, D, and E highlights,
1:29:10and go through each of these questions
1:29:15in the discussion post for this week.
1:29:18Volunteer. If one person can volunteer
1:29:20from each group to post the result and
1:29:25include everyone in your group their
1:29:28names.
1:29:32Does everyone have access to this
1:29:34breakout uh link
1:29:38>> to the document?
1:29:40>> Yes.
1:29:40>> Yes.
1:29:42>> Excellent. Okay. So, I'm going to open
1:29:43up a breakout room. It's 7:45 right now.
1:29:47Um, I'm thinking I'm going to leave the
1:29:52uh leave the breakout rooms open
1:29:54extended beyond the class time so that
1:29:57you can have extra time in case, but you
1:30:00won't need to come back to the main
1:30:03room. Okay, I'll give you guys time to
1:30:06work together
1:30:07and then nominate someone to post it
1:30:11into the breakout group. Oh, thank you
1:30:13Embra. Thank you for sharing that.
1:30:17Are there any questions about this task?
1:30:22>> Sorry, I just wanted to clarify
1:30:24something. So, we we go in the breakout
1:30:26sess uh rooms and then on the discussion
1:30:29post, we post as a group. Yes.
1:30:31>> So, one person post Okay.
1:30:33>> One person will post and that one person
1:30:35will list everybody's name who was in
1:30:37the group.
1:30:39>> Okay. So feel free to make a copy of
1:30:41this document and
1:30:44I'll visit uh Bill and I will visit your
1:30:46breakout rooms
1:30:49>> and is it necessary to make the post
1:30:51today?
1:30:52>> Your post will be due ne by next
1:30:55Tuesday. So just before the next class
1:30:58thank you.
1:31:00>> Thank you Jennifer.

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This page contains the full transcript of Session 1 AI and Writing Fall 2026 by Life After AI, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 11,648 words across 1,816 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.