Table of Contents

Histories: C&W Approaches to Disruptive Technologies

AI-generated image of a robot made of wires with a femail human face on the left and an abstract representation of a dark-colored hand stretched across a beige background.

What We already Know: Generative AI and the History of Writing With and Through Digital Technologies

Anthony Atkins and Colleen A. Reilly

This chapter examines past responses to the challenges posed to conceptions of writing and authorship; the access and accessibility implications of information and communication technologies; and the degree to which technologies reveal and mask their mediation of content, and how we can support our responses to AI based on past encounters with new technologies.


AI-generated images: on the left a black-and-white image of a computer keyboard with paper rising from it, similar to a typewriter; on the right is a small figure typing on a giant laptop, with screens of information surrounding the figure.

The Black-Boxed Ideology of Automated Writing Evaluation Software

Antonio Hamilton and Finola McMahon

Examining current automated writing evaluation (AWE) applications, the authors found three central themes. 1.) The user's technical illiteracy being used against them to prevent a full understanding of the programs prior to purchase, 2.) The programs' websites obscuring details about how the algorithms function, and 3.) Black-boxing as an appeal to current-traditional rhetoric and the use of static abstractions in writing feedback.

Policy: Programs and Publications

AI-generated images: a photorealistic image of a white man with glasses and a white woman discussing a page in front of them on the left; a blurry image of a flyer with (unreadable) dark blue text on a beige background with cartoon-like pictures of a man working on a laptop and sketch of a robot in the margin.

Drafting a Policy for Critical Use of AI Writing Technologies in Higher Education

Dan Frank and Jennifer Johnson

Frank and Johnson present a dialectical conversation reflecting on the incorporation of generative AI tools in the writing classroom. They trace the development of the UCSB Writing Program's Policy on ChatGPT and AI Writing, which aims to provide ethical guidance and support for faculty and students in using these technologies.

AI-generated images: a watercolor-like representation of a laptop sitting atop books on a table, colors are primarily blues, greys and white on the left; on the right a blurry image of a flyer with (unreadable) dark grey text on an orange background, a drawing of a green robot writing in a book takes up the right side of the flyer.

A Textual Transaction: The Construction of Authorship in AI Policy Statements

James P. Purdy

Purdy examines updates to submission policies of academic journals and publishers that were published within six months of ChatGPT’s initial public release. In arguing that generative AI cannot be listed as an author, these policies define what authors, and by extension writing, are and should be.

Reports from the Field: Classes & Students Using AI

AI-generated images: on the left, inside a series of circles of bright lights in motion sits a disembodied head that is primarily made of wires but has a human female face; on the right a picture of an unreadable flier with black text on white background in text boxes, a pale blue oval in the center, and dark text on a dark beige background.

Reconsidering Writing Pedagogy with ChatGPT
 

Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch, Kathleen Bolander, Alison Obright, Asmita Ghimire, Stuart Deets, and Jessica Remcheck

This chapter shares results of a contextual usability inquiry study of student impressions of ChatGPT. Students completed five tasks using ChatGPT and rated the outputs in terms of expectations, satisfaction, credibility, and relevance. Students consistently rated ChatGPT texts as high in relevance and expectations, but lower in terms of satisfaction and credibility.

AI-generated images: on the left, an uncannily accurate drawing of Mark Marino as a main with a beard and glasses on a dark plum background; on the right a side view of a dark blue robot typing on a dark blue laptop, all on a light blue background. The robot appears to be wearing glasses and headphones with a microphone, as if on a conference call.

ChatGPT is Not Your Friend: The Importance of AI Literacy for Inclusive Writing Pedagogy

Mark C. Marino


AI tools present yet another divisive wedge between the digitally literate haves and the less literate have-nots, and as students' understanding of these systems increases, the potential for productive, creative, and critical use of these tools likewise increases. This chapter details the experimental assignments, in class work, and theoretical bases that led to those findings.

AI-generated image: on the left appears a photorealistic image of a female robot made of white plastic typing on a laptop in a room that appears to have a blackboard in the backgroud, white unintelligible text appears in the top left portion of the picture; on the right is an oil-painting style image of people sitting two to a table, one white man and one white woman at each. One couple is looking at a laptop, the other couple is looking at a pile of crumpled paper on their table.

Mind the Gaps: Evaluating Student Perceptions on GenAI and the Future of Writing

Jeanne Law, James Blakely, John C. Havard, and Laura Palmer

This chapter presents findings from a study of first-year students' perceptions of gen-AI, measuring student attitudes toward gen-AI in both academic and personal writing contexts. Technical communications students were more accepting of gen-AI than first-year writing students across contexts, reflecting their comfort integrating new technologies in their work.

Multimodal Composing: AI Text-to-Image Applications

AI-generated images: on the left, a primarily black-and white cityscape with sketched buildings on either side of a wide white walkway, several people and trees are present on the walkway. The ground beneath the buildings is orange. On the right, a blurry infographic-style image features an oddly shaped building in the center surrounded by text descriptions connected to it by lines; there is a realistic looking white human hand coming in from the top right corner to add detail to the drawing of the building.

Composing the Future: Speculative Design and AI Text-to-Image Synthesis

Jamie Littlefield

AI’s entrenchment in the past generates an algorithmic resistance to change, creating synthetic output that uncritically re-creates values and social structures. In the writing classroom, speculative design practices can provide students with concrete approaches to analyzing and composing AI-generated images that demonstrate awareness of the ways AI reproduces the past.

AI-generated images: On the left, a blurry grayscale infographic-style image features an circular architectural drawing in the center surrounded by text descriptions connected to it by lines; on the right is a black and white drawing of a room with textured walls, light fixtures depending from the ceiling, and white circles on the floor.

Toward A Critical Multimodal Composition: Analyzing Bias in Text-to-Image Generative AI

Sierra S. Parker

This chapter analyzes biases (re)produced by text-to-image generative AI compositions, presenting a critical approach that engages technology bias and visual pedagogies of artificial intelligence for the rhetoric and writing classroom. Demonstrating how AI images direct the viewer, the author offers strategies for using this technology meaningfully in the classroom as an object of critical analysis.

Teaching AI Literacies

AI-generated images: on the left is an image of two books with grey (unreadable) text on cream-colored pages, one is folded back on itself and a yellow glow appears at the margin where the book is folded. Two green pencils lay across one of the books in the bottom left corner. On the right is a drawing of a messy desk with a laptop, a cup full of pens and pencils, a coffee mug, some documents, and an unidentified object that appears to be a disembodied hand hovering over the laptop keyboard.

LLMs for Style Pedagogy



Christopher Eisenhart

Eisenhart examines the capacities of generative AI applications to engage in the editing and revision work of style by putting ChatGPT through the exercises presented in Joseph Williams's Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, noting where it performed as well as a human student, but also where its struggles were similar to those of many first-year writing students.

AI-generated images: On the left is a greyscale image of a woman whose (very long) neck and shoulders appear to be made of circuitry, a halo of bright small lights hovers around her head. On the right a blurry infographic-style image with a blue background and white text and beige highlight colors features a circular drawing of geometric figures radiating out from the letters 'CAI' in the center; this central figure is surrounded by text descriptions connected to it by lines.

Interfacing Chat GPT: A Heuristic for Improving Generative AI Literacies


Desiree Dighton

By integrating heuristic development and analysis into classroom practices, this study aims to enhance students' understanding of AI technologies, fostering critical engagement and agency. The findings highlight the importance of situating AI tools within broader socio-cultural contexts, advocating for a more inclusive and reflective approach to integrating AI in educational settings.

Chapter Abstracts Contributors