Keeping Your Voice as You Write in the Age of AI

This course is open to anyone who writes in an academic context. It invites participants to explore what it means to write in an age where artificial intelligence (AI) can produce fluent text at unprecedented speed. Our central question is: how can we preserve rhetorical agency, defined here as our ability to make informed, context-aware decisions about language, in an environment increasingly shaped by AI? We begin by examining common misconceptions about AI in academic writing, including how Large Language Models (LLMs) operate and what this implies for the texts they generate. We then focus on what AI can and cannot do for writers. Participants will learn to: (1) identify when aspects of the writing process may or may not be responsibly delegated to AI; (2) recognize the risks of over-reliance, including loss of authentic voice and ethical concerns; and (3) critically evaluate AI-generated text for accuracy and relevance. The seminar is highly interactive: participants will write, revise, and experiment with real sections of research papers as they develop a responsible and reflective approach to integrating AI into their scholarly practice.