Writing Program

Generative AI Resources

What is the Writing Center’s policy on GenAI?

At the Writing Center, we do not encourage the use of Generative AI (GenAI) products such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Anthrophic’s Claude, or Google Gemini. At the same time, we recognize the complex decisions students have to make when considering GenAI use, especially when some instructors allow it and some assignments even explicitly call for it.

Therefore, while we will not encourage GenAI use, we also do not judge students who have used it. We do ask, however, that you please disclose any GenAI use on assignments you bring in so we can more effectively work with you. Depending on the extent or type of use, we may ask to see the instructor’s policy and/or assignment prompt so we know that this assignment and/or instructor allows GenAI use.

With these factors in mind, and because we recognize the value of a process-based approach to writing and understand that grappling with frustration and difficulty is often a necessary part of learning, our overall approach when you disclose GenAI use will be to remind you that your own thoughts matter, ask you questions about why you felt the need or desire to use GenAI on this assignment, and help you weigh the costs and benefits of doing so. Our goal is to assist you in developing confidence in your own voice and your own thoughts.

Why has the Writing Center taken this approach to GenAI?

This stance towards GenAI arises from our commitment to Geneseo’s equity-centered mission. That is, we believe there are several factors writers must consider before engaging with GenAI products. For example, researchers have found that such products:

Even more troubling, humans exposed to biased GenAI outputs have been shown to inherit the biases in those outputs (Tsirtsis, 2025; Vicente & Matute, 2023). GenAI has also been shown to homogenize our thought and language (Daryani et al, 2025; Sourati et al., 2026), and even when warned about potential biases, users’ attitudes on social issues have shifted more towards the biased GenAI outputs without the users realizing so (Williams-Ceci et al., 2026) .

Moreover, mounting evidence suggests GenAI products will hinder the writing process more than they will help. For example:

In fact, one of the most widely-cited studies touting the benefits of GenAI for education was recently retracted due to concerns about the validity of its analysis.

Where can I learn more about GenAI?

  • You can learn how to disable or avoid intrusive AI features here.
  • This helpful “Cartography of generative AI” maps the various connections between components of GenAI systems and human activity.
  • This site gives a brief overview of the environmental impacts of GenAI
  • Privacy International has this explainer on how Large Language Models threaten your privacy and data rights.
  • You can follow this “AI Incident Tracker” to monitor the various harms caused by GenAI.
  • Likewise, you can track AI “hallucinations” in legal cases here.
  • And this blog post traces the spread of “hallucinated” citations.
  • The Data Workers’ Inquiry provides several resources where you can learn about the experience of data workers, or those who train GenAI systems, from data workers themselves.
  • This recent Denver Post article profiles students resisting AI at CU
  • This recent Newsweek article reports on the experiences of people living near data centers used to power AI.
  • LOOMING is an ongoing zine that explores the impacts of digital technologies such as generative AI.
  • Dr. Dagnar Monett maintains this curated list of books about critical AI

Teaching “AI Literacy”

We recommend the following sites for instructors thinking about how to teach “AI literacy”:

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