Writing is an exercise in the art of persuasion. If we use AI we lose the art | Alan Finkel

Every reader deserves to be informed about whether what they are reading is human or AI A few weeks ago, Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an academic in political science at Macquarie University, wrote an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald in which she reported on excessive use of AI chatbots by students to write their essays. In it, she raised her concern that universities are qualifying lawyers, nurses, financial advisers, engineers and teachers who do not have the essential skills required to perform their roles. If that is the case, the societal consequences are obvious. Not everybody in the university sector agrees, and the University of Western Sydney’s pro vice-chancellor for quality and integrity, Prof Cath Ellis, wrote an opinion piece in rebuttal. There was a problem, though. Ellis’s piece itself was written by AI – which was not disclosed to the newspaper. Readers spotted the telltales of AI phraseology, and social media lit up with negative comments. Ellis defended her opinion piece, saying it was written “with” AI, not “by” AI. From the perspective of the university, Ellis was entitled to use AI as she did. A spokesperson for the university acknowledged that Copilot pro