AI tools promise to make writing faster and easier in today’s fast-paced digital world, but does speed always mean better quality? As generative AI becomes a common part of the creative process, questions about its impact on originality, skill, and ethics are hard to ignore. Keep reading to learn how AI can either sharpen or dull your writing abilities, why friction in the writing process still matters, and how to use these tools responsibly without losing your unique voice.
““Future success… will not be driven by AI, but by people who have mastered how to learn, adopt, and adapt to the ambiguity that comes along with technological advancements like the kind we are seeing with AI right now.”
Dr. Julie Schell, Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the Office of Academic Technology, The University of Texas at Austin
It’s 11:39 p.m. on a Sunday night, and your English paper about Shakespeare’s use of alliteration in Hamlet is due in twenty-one minutes. The cursor blinks at the end of a line that reads, “Kenneth Branagh made some interesting choices,” but otherwise, the document is blank.
So, you head over to ChatGPT and ask it to write 2,000 words on Hamlet. It spits out a paper in no time flat, you submit it just before midnight, and collapse in an exhausted heap.
Sound familiar? If so, you may also recall a nagging sense that maybe what you did was not entirely… right. Ethics, morals, and environmental impact aside, what did you actually learn? About Shakespeare? About writing?
In this article, we’ll explore how generative AI can both empower and hinder the development of writing skills, depending on how it’s used.
Joining the discussion is Dr. Casey Boyle, Associate Professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin and Director of the Digital Writing and Research Lab.
The Hidden Cost of AI Convenience
A real concern plaguing instructors, managers, and professional writers is that too many people are starting to see writing as something to be outsourced or automated, or worse, some annoying busy work to simply get done without ever really doing it.
While you can use AI to generate emails, cover letters, and class assignments with shocking speed, does it really improve your writing?
“Writing is thinking,” says Dr. Boyle. “It’s the act of choosing the right word and rejecting the easy one… and if AI comes in and removes all that friction, there’s not going to be a whole lot of learning taking place.”
That “friction” is where growth happens. It’s the struggle to polish a sentence, to organize your thoughts, and to revise an opening paragraph until it’s engaging and inviting. When AI does all the heavy lifting (especially early in the process), writers risk losing the skills that enable effective communication.
As Dr. Boyle puts it, “The people who don’t know how to use generative AI well waste more time using it than they would just writing what they needed to write.”
This isn’t about pretending that generative AI doesn’t have value. It’s about resisting the temptation to treat AI like an easy out. Once it becomes a shortcut, and the shortcut becomes the standard route, the long way disappears, taking with it all the lessons it used to teach.
Write First, then Ask the Robot
Responsible use of generative AI starts with the proper mindset: AI should supplement your writing process, not replace it. Dr. Boyle explains it this way: “The folks who use it well are the ones who already have a strong writing process. They’re still making choices all along the way.”
Some examples of responsible use include asking ChatGPT to summarize complex research or brainstorm alternative phrasings. It’s great at showing how style shifts across different genres, but it speaks in the parlance of generative AI. Don’t let that voice become your voice. When you stop questioning its suggestions, you’ve given up your agency in the part of writing that actually matters.
Dr. Boyle suggests we ask: “Where’s the friction going to happen that’s going to help me become a better writer, a better reader, a better thinker?” That means while the conversational interface with AI may be casual, writing is not always breezy, and good thinking is rarely measured in microseconds.
It’s tempting to offload the mental labor of composition, but as Dr. Boyle reminds us, “We don’t take kids straight to calculators—we teach them math first.” It’s the same with AI: if you haven’t done the work yourself, you won’t recognize when the machine gets it wrong.
Because it will.
Ultimately, ethical use of AI comes down to accountability. You’re still responsible for what you write, regardless of how it was generated. Moreover, it’s important to remember that the goal isn’t just about getting the job done—it’s about getting better at doing the job.
Building Skills in an AI-Assisted World
Students in the Professional Writing Certificate Program (PWCP) aren’t expected to shun AI. Instead, they learn the skills, habits, and strategies for using AI well (read: ethically, responsibly, and in the pursuit of effective communication).
Dr. Boyle teaches Mastering Mechanics: Proofreading, Punctuation, and Grammar as part of the PWCP. His course focuses on the foundational elements of writing and allows students to develop the ability to assess and refine their writing critically. Only with those skills in hand can they maintain control over their work, even when using AI tools.
“The ability comes from the practice of doing it,” asserts Dr. Boyle. “And there’s potential to use tools like Grammarly or ChatGPT to develop that ability, but you have to direct them to your needs, not the other way around.”
Because the course focuses on grammar and mechanics, it offers an important perspective: AI can explain the rules but not the nuances, or more importantly, when to break those rules. That’s a skill only study, practice, and a whole lot of “friction” can teach.
Why Clear, Human Writing Still Wins
Although many school assignments come with a page or word count, most professional settings don’t care about how much you’ve written—they care that what you’ve written makes an impact. Managers aren’t impressed by how fast you can churn out emails—they’re looking to hire people who can communicate clearly, persuasively, and with just enough personality to keep readers engaged.
This is where the PWCP offers tremendous value. Students learn to write with intention, know their audience, choose the right tone, and structure ideas for maximum impact. These are skills AI can support but not deliver on its own.
“At the end of the day,” notes Dr. Boyle, “you’re still the authority on what got sent out.” The final written product should always reflect your own skills, efforts, and judgment. It’s still your name at the bottom of the page, and your reader doesn’t really care how fast or easily you wrote it. All they care about is whether it’s worth reading.
The Goal is Writing, not Generation
There’s no mistaking AI’s growing role in how we write, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the definition of good writing. Thoughtful structure, clear intent, and audience awareness still reign supreme. Every time we shortcut writing by having ChatGPT do it for us, we skip over the experiences that teach us how to write well. We write more but gain less skill.
“I think generative is the best way to market this product,” says Dr. Boyle. “Because it’s not really generating anything. It’s mimicking and imitating.”
That’s why programs like the Professional Writing Certificate exist: to help people build the necessary skills to tell good writing from bad. A solid foundation empowers writers to edit their own work and the work produced by generative AI equally. At that point, they will have the confidence to write with or without machine assistance.
Used responsibly, AI can be an excellent writing tool. Used recklessly, it can slow a writer’s development and erode their voice into a bland mimicry of written communication. Professionals who are serious about improving their craft don’t need more shortcuts. They need foundational skills and a clear understanding of where generative AI can live in their writing process.
For more information, please check out the Professional Writing Certificate Program.
Daniel Verastiqui is a UT Austin alumnus and technical writer with over 20 years of experience in technical services, customer experience, and software development. When he’s not leading technical teams in Austin’s startup scene, he explores the intersection of technology and humanity in his cyberpunk novels.
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