Not long ago, AI technology felt like a part of the future but everything changed incredibly fast. Today it's clear that AI is here to stay, and it will be more and more integrated into our activities, jobs, and studies.
Today, almost every student has tried using AI for different purposes, including academic task solutions. Especially, it becomes very tempting for students to use AI when the deadline is close and the writing hasn't even started yet. You can very easily picture yourself staring at a blank Google Doc in front of you and feeling anxious. At that moment, you might start thinking about AI and why you can't use it to solve your problems.
But the truth is, you actually can use it, and it can even be an ecological and ethical way to do it. However, there are many important things to know and apply if you really want to stay on track and learn something.
If you’re working on a personal statement or a scholarship application, you can use AI for this too. Whether you’re writing about your goals or your personal experience, it’s all about placing your ideas in a concise way. AI can help you tell your story better.
The main idea for now is that AI isn't an enemy of students or teachers. It’s a tool like any other. If you use it right, it will save you time and help you understand complicated topics better. But if you use it wrong, you'll end up with robotic text, you will learn nothing, and of course, there will be a risk that you'll be accused of generating content.
So, let's break it down step by step on how to use AI to write essays and still learn something in the process.
Step 1. Think of AI as an Assistant Who Helps You Study
Let’s stop pretending AI is just a tool for cheating. You could say the same about any other tool. For example, if you use Google to find something, it means you don’t know it yourself. AI is just a smart instrument that works differently depending on your approach.
You don’t have to delegate the entire job of writing papers, thinking ‘Can the machine write my essay instead of me?’. But if you use AI as your brainstorming partner - like WriteMyEssay.ai - to organize your thoughts, ask questions, draft some parts, structure your paper, or get over writer's block, it will be a very effective and ecological tool. Remember: you are the writer, and AI is just your assistant that is available 24/7.
Step 2. Use AI to Break Down the Topic Before You Start Writing
Most of the time, the hardest part of writing is researching and collecting information to be clear about the topic you’re writing about. AI can assist you with that part. Here’s how to use it right:
- Ask it to explain the topic to you, especially if you want to clarify complicated and volume concepts. AI can break them down into subtopics, so you'll 'eat an elephant' by parts.
- Make sure you understand the task correctly and ask to explain how to start working on a task.
- Ask for a summary of different perspectives or opinions.
- Ask it to list key terms or definitions.
- Ask it to come up with 3–5 possible directions for your paper and analyze each of them.
If you do that, you’ll be surprised how much easier writing gets once you get the chaotic thoughts in your head organized. And still, such an approach will help you learn a lot and find new approaches as a writer.
Step 3. Let AI Generate a Draft and Then Rewrite It in Your Own Words
Most raw AI-generated essays sound very basic and robotic. Sure, they might pass a plagiarism checker, but they probably won't pass the test of human-like writing. They often sound either too natural or too perfect, and that tells a lot about how they were made. If you really want to make the final version of a paper undetectable and human-like, do it differently. Here’s an algorithm to consider:
- Ask AI to generate a rough essay on your topic (for example, with a 1000-word limit).
- Read it and highlight the parts you like, facts, phrasing, maybe structure.
- Rewrite the essay in your tone of voice, using your comments and notes.
- Add an essay with your ideas, maybe something from your life or personal experience.
Think of AI as a helper with the structure, which you'll then bring to life with super individual features that come right from you. A personal touch of a human writer combined with a strong structure made by a machine creates a perfect combo.
Step 4. Use AI for Fact-Checking
We all know that AI sometimes can come up with not really accurate outputs. In simple words, it often lies to us. It doesn’t mean that AI does it on purpose, but sometimes it makes up stuff because the algorithms are not working ideally 100%.
Especially inaccuracy may be related to sources, which are crucial to be real and accurate when it comes to essay writing. That's why you'd better ask the AI about each statement you find questionable. Ask if a certain statement is true. Ask to provide a real source for each important part. If you see some claims without context, request AI to come up with counterarguments to test if the original statement is realistic.
By fact-checking, you make your essay stronger and more effective, and that's the point. Moreover, you train yourself by developing critical thinking, and learn how to ask the right questions.
Step 5. Polish Your Essay with AI, But Keep It Sound Human
AI can fix your grammar, improve transitions, suggest better words, and so on. But you don’t need to over-polish your papers, because you’re risking making them sound like they were written by a robot, not a person.
Here are good ways to use AI for editing:
- Check grammar and spelling quickly
- Ask to simplify long sentences and break them down into several shorter ones
- Get help rewriting phrases that sound awkward
- Check if the structure is strong enough.
What is not recommended to do?
- Let AI rewrite everything according to its vision
- Use complicated words just to sound smarter
- Copy huge blocks of text without understanding them.
Step 6. Reflect on What You Learned
This is the important part, and almost nobody does it. However, reflection is the basis of learning. So, once you've used AI to help you research, polish, and structure your paper, ask yourself several questions:
- What did I actually learn from this process?
- Which part of the topic makes the most sense now?
- What would I do differently next time?
Reflection is real learning, and you'll see how it works.
Afterall
AI won't make you smarter, but the way you use it definitely will. We aren’t here to tell you not to use AI at all, because it would be impossible. We're already living in the future, and it makes no sense to try to ban AI. It's almost like banning Google.
But the approach to using AI can make a big difference. If you treat it like a replacement for yourself as a writer, then you'll never learn anything. But if you use AI as a tool that helps you think faster, write better, and progress, you're definitely on the right path. Good luck!
