Upon reading Gero’s article, I made a stunning realization. I’ve done so much creative work over the years, but never once have I even considered using an AI tool to gather feedback or suggestions for my content. This includes my songs, novels and most importantly, my TV series scripts. I have always felt like my writing is so personal to me that I have such an easier time having full control over it. While song lyrics typically come naturally to me, I usually have to outline each episode of the television series I write.
I have only ever used AI to help with my writing once, and it was last semester for a term paper. CoPilot gave me suggestions on how to strenghten my argument for the paper and format the flow of the paper in a clearer way. However, I didn’t feel like the system was replacing me as a writer. I simply saw it as a Mousekatool of sorts that guided me when I was not confident with my writing. With CoPilot’s help, I only changed a few minor things about the paper, but that made all the difference.
I absolutely believe that writers are allowed to use AI for suggestions towards their writing. My dad uses ChatGPT (maybe a little too much) to help him with the novel he’s writing. If writers remain aware that they are in control of their writing, they are allowed to rely on others, including AI, to strengthen their work. However, an excessive reliance on AI might be too much, and could stray the writer away from the human essence of writing. Using AI with my creative works is something I might be open to eventually, but as of right now, I am so used to keeping everything under my own control, aside from getting feedback from those who read my work.
Writing is one of the most important things to me, and it has been for years. I remember writing my first novela when I was twelve, and writing fan-fictional stories before that. I would gather characters from multiple media I enjoyed and place them all in a story together. It was like playing with toys and figurines (which I also did as a child), but in a written form rather than live playtime. I have since grown out of using pre-existing characters, of course, and I now create original characters. The first attempt at writing a television show started when I was around 16 – almost five years ago. It was a live-action series based on Minecraft. I ended up scrapping it after a year because things were not making sense. However, early this year, I gained inspiration to do it again. I am now working on a brand new live-action series based on Minecraft, this time with an entirely different premise.
While I do have that Minecraft series going for me, I do have an original series as well that I have been writing for almost four years. It’s a high-school / coming-of-age drama series with a side of crime and mystery. I wrote the original draft from 2022-2024; four complete seasons. At the end of 2024, I started rewriting the series to really hone in on the story and refine it. The rewrite is vastly different from the original, but it works better now in my opinion. I’ve only written up to the third season, so there’s one more to go. However, I’ve put my magnum opus aside to focus on the new Minecraft series script.
Now that I’ve shared some of my creative writing facts, I want to reflect on the fact that AI assistance never crossed my mind. It really shows how absolutely wild of an imagination I have. I shock myself sometimes with how my brain is able to come up with these stories, characters and themes. I love creating seperate plotlines for my shows that play out simultaneously and end up weaving into each other. Writing is such a uniquely human concept, and I never want to let go of that part of myself.
So, should we really use AI when we have a road block in our brain? I’m not so sure. From an educator’s perspective, absolutely not. This is considered plagiarism if one claims the work to be their own. However, from a personal perspective, I can understand why someone would turn to artificial intelligence to help get their brain juices flowing.
But honestly, from a view of caution, I think that this could be dangerous. Now we are opening ourselves up to training artificial intelligence to write entire novels. Artificial intelligence is already able to analyze data and make citations (although most people have to pay to use those advanced tools.) It is only a matter of time before artificial intelligence will be able to write entire dissertations. So, while we can use AI to help hit the gas pedal, I really don’t think we should. I think it’s dangerous. By using artificial intelligence to write paragraphs for you, and then by using a few of the given lines to craft your own paragraph, I do think it constitutes an act of plagiarism. Plus, I don’t think it’s a good look for an author to give credit to artificial intelligence when writing their book (because it’s lazy). The whole point of writing is to write. I just think it is dangerous to do.
With regard to the documentary, here is what I have to say. It is irresponsible to say that artificial intelligence will be the “one of the greatest boosts to productivity, in the history of our species” (Suleyman.) It is an irresponsible statement because we are actively training artificial intelligence to be smarter than humans, and we are calling it an “increase in productivity.” The scary thing, is that AI machines have a LOT of stamina, and can provide answers faster than humans can. With the example of the chess game, if artificial intelligence can figure out how to prevent their human opponent from beating them in a game of chess, they can most definitely use that math to figure out other ways of doing things, (like dangerous things.)
This may be an “A.I” revolution, but I fear that we are headed towards this becoming an A.I. domination, where we will end up in a dystopic reality similar to the movie “I, Robot.”
After reading the article “AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing”, it brought a new perspective of involving AI in writing. For me, I do not like my writing, or any writing, being involved with AI, especially creative writing. For me, it feels like the magic touch of the person’s creativity and imagination is gone or muddled when they include AI. However, in the article, it is mentioned that AI can be used as a tool to help push creativity. This can take place in the drafting stage, writing stage, or even revising stage. A common trouble a lot of writers have is writing/creative block, which I have experienced myself. From my understanding, AI can be a way to help the writer plan would what direction they potentially want their writing to go, that it doesn’t necessarily mean it should replace the writing.
Along with this, I was intrigued to see the perspective that maybe having AI to review the writing could help, as not all writers are willing to let others examine their work. That is something I can understand, it takes a lot to trust someone with something that is important, and I maybe I can understand feeling less pressure with AI reviewing it.
I am really so happy with our in-person (embodied) launch of the Human Nature of Writing “collaboratory”. I feel the shared enthusiasm in the room for the conversation and connections that lay ahead. It seems there are so many open possibilities for our collective exploration of A.I.’s impact on the writing process (and our shared world). I am glad we started the semester off with some thoughtful conversations and also some informal in class writing. You are definitely a diverse and interesting group of humans! I look forward to getting know you more as our time this semester passes together. And I hope my invitation stands to exercise your imagination – within this class, and in your life too, so that we can better connect our individual hopes to collective possibilities (rooted in justice) for all.
Class slides:
Moving forward
The significance of care, and the sense of trust in community, is critical to anyone’s capacity to learn. And so I am glad we are taking the time to connect as we settle into class together. We will continue the process of getting to know each other more each week, before we jump into our weekly content together. And we will also have a special visit from a beloved alumna of the MA in English, Writing Studies program – Maya Ostfeld. As I mentioned in class briefly, the seed of her MA thesis was born in this class (that she took a few years back as an undergraduate). I am looking forward to her sharing some of her insight with all of you.
I am glad we took a look an initial peek at our Reading Roster together (remember this a “live” document that can be expanded by your own contributions). We have also started “to fill out” the Course Calendar together. Next week, we will work together to settle your individual dates for the “pathfinding schedule”. And the week thereafter (by 2/4), I hope you will be able to share a topic (and theme, title, and reading/material) that you intend to cover during your own pathfinding session. **Please work on refining your theme and title and the content for your pathfinding session by 2/4. And for my undergraduate students, if you would like to work with a partner for your presentation, please be sure to connect with them to confer about your class theme and materials/readings. Our calendar should be settled with individual’s presentation dates (by 1/27) and the selected content (by 2/4).
Please look at the Reading Roster more closely, and be prepared to let me know what your topic and theme title will be. You can also share with me any possible reading selection(s) you would like to integrate into the Course Calendar.
Blog 2 due: Please write a reflection/response to “AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing”. Include an introduction to yourself (if you haven’t done that yet).
My name is Keslande Gabriel, and I am so looking forward to earning my degree in English-Writing in the next few months. Compared to when I started college in 2004, and going back a few years, I can say there have been some major changes in how we gather information. Technology has made our lives much easier, and enables us to achieve more than we could imagine. From physically going to the library to check out books, to having those information in the palm of our hands. As helpful as technology has been, it has also replaced humans in some ways. Instead of using it as an assistant, our complete reliance on it has diminished our critical thinking skills. From driving to the most common place to writing a simple paragraph, our dependence on technology has increased tremendously. What’s most annoying about AI is how it is being used. Nowadays, you can hardly find an image, or an ad with the human touch. I even saw a whole music video featuring a tall male walking and singing. I was shocked to find out that none of it was real. It was all AI. Too much of a good thing can definitely be a bad thing,
My name is Nastassja Anderson but everyone calls me Nas. I am Jersey-born, but island-raised.Naturally, I find my peace at the beach or anywhere in nature. The waves, the salt air, the stillness of the trees, those are my reset buttons.
I’m a creative through and through. When I’m not writing or reading, you’ll probably find me hunched over a pile of Lego, or grading papers and trying to decipher my students’ handwriting.
Just last year I was student teaching and starting my first teaching job as an 11th grade English teacher in my hometown. Teaching in the age of AI grows increasingly difficult as the days, months, even seconds go by. While we teachers are encouraged to use it to make our work easier, I also make it my duty to teach my students how to use it responsibly. I chose to take this course not us for me but for the enrichment my pedagogy.
My love for literature and writing is what led me into education and, ultimately, here. While I’ve been fortunate enough to become a published author, I see myself first and foremost as a learner. Writing is an ongoing process of discovery, and I’m here in this program to grow alongside other creatives, to refine my voice, and to continue shaping my craft.
I’m excited to learn from all of you, and to share this critical journey together.
Hi. I’m a generative AI hater. I don’t think its pros outweigh its environmental destruction. Small towns in the States are being exploited for their water just to cool server farms. Actual farmers are going to struggle, as will the people living in these more remote places. I also cringe at people’s dependence on it in general. It’s overly biased towards certain demographics because the people teaching the language learning model have their own unchecked -isms. Men will use it for therapy and learn to be more misogynistic as a result. Back in my day we’d just ask Reddit anonymously how to fix our hyper specific situations.
I won’t treat GenAI as a tool for these reasons. I also don’t think people who choose to use it deserve condemnation. A lot of AI haters treat people who have used it as already being “morally tainted.” Discouragement doesn’t have to come in the form admonishment. But I do think there’s a point where you have to draw a line with technology in general, and many people are too codependent to recognize the line anymore.
Hello everyone. My name is Oliver Berrocal. My pronouns are He/Him and/or They/Them, any of the two works fine for me. My major is English Creative Writing with a minor in Psychology. I enjoy listening to music, watching video games, movies, and anime.
Hello everyone. My name is Hunter Marshall and I am super excited to be in this class with all of you. If I am being honest, I absolutely hate writing and talking about myself so I want to keep this short and sweet. I am a brother, a son, a gamer, writer, avid reader tutor and a art lover. If you ask me about my favorite work of art/book/game is will gladly yap for days. This is my second semester here in the Grad program. One last thing worth mentioning here is that I am a HUGE hater when it comes to AI. While there are probably decent things that can come out of its development, I hate its current uses and the way people manage its systems. I am really interested to work through this course and talk about this throughout the spring. Its nice to meet you all.
Hello all! My name is CJ Petersen, I use he/they pronouns, and I am in the graduate writing studies program at Kean University. There is a lot you could know about me, but I will try my best to include the top stuff!
Some things I like in general (for those who want a brief overview): -Funko Pops -Pins -Video games -Music -Reading -Writing -Horror -Tutoring -Cats (my pets, not the musical) -Movies -Rats -Shrimp (the animal itself, it isn’t my favorite food) -Smosh -Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel -Halloween -D&D
Getting more specific (for those who can tolerate my yapping): -I collect Funko Pops of my favorite shows/characters. My collection includes Marvel, DC, Pokémon, Trick ‘r Treat, Wednesday, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Stranger Things, Demon Slayer, Fairy Tail, The Witcher, Owl House, KPop Demon Hunters, Ben 10, My Little Pony, and The Lion King -I have all the pins I own on my backpack. My favorite pins are the Bolt, Flapjack tattoo, The Lion King poster, and the shrimp -My main game is Marvel Rivals. I play that game a LOT, trying to get to diamond rank. I main support. Some other games I enjoy are Dead by Daylight, Life is Strange (I have Life is Strange 2 and Life is Strange Double Exposure, but haven’t played them yet due to playing games for their battle passes or events), Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League. I love The Last of Us and Batman Arkham games as well, just not currently in my rotation (over break, I introduced my younger sister to Life is Strange, which is why it is in the current rotation). I mostly play on PlayStation, but I also have games on my computer. Like Minecraft and Jackbox. I also have a Switch Lite that has Minecraft and Animal Crossing. I have Pokémon Sword and Shield, haven’t played them. Too many games, not enough time. -The main artists I listen to are: Sabrina Carpenter, Maya Hawke, Hozier, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Stray Kids, XLOV, baltzy, and West Gura. I am trying to collect vinyls. Right now, I mostly have Sabrina Carpenter and Hozier, but I also have the KPop Demon Hunters and one XLOV. I have all the XLOV albums except the special edition first album because it was a limited edition and sold out FAST. -For reading, I mostly read queer books. I also tend to read graphic novels. I got one full manga, Komi Can’t Communicate, cause I introduced it to my younger sister and she loved it. That was a mistake cause now she has half the books with HER. But whatever, it is what it is. I also have some Teen Titans comics by Gabriel Picolo. My favorite book is Listen by Stephanie S. Tolan -Kinda obvious, I know. I always write a lot (those in Dr. Sisler’s Monday class learned that early on), but I love creative writing the most. In the rare chance I have time, I work on one of my MANY stories I have in the works. I have been published once in the Dark Horse Magazine, issue 35, “Infection”. -My favorite genre is horror. I love writing dark, creepy, weird stuff. Also like watching it. Saw is one of my favourite movie series. Trick ‘r Treat is one of my favorite movies as well. Some others I thought were good were Bird Box, Hush, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Korean movies Parasite and Forgotten. I also like horror games, like Outlast. -I enjoy tutoring for the most part. Obviously, every job has complications. However, I enjoy seeing how one prompt gets so many different responses. I like seeing how differently everyone thinks and figuring out how to help them. -My cats are Luci and Beanie. Luci is a black cat, and Beanie is a tabby that has bonked eyes from an infection (we think, we adopted her, so we don’t know). My younger sister has a cat that she named Yuki (Japanese name meaning snow). He is a tabby with a clipped ear cause he was feral but she took him in for some reason (he is still feral like, very smacky with his paws). We call him Elfo. Luci, Beanie, and Elfo from the show Disenchantment -Already mentioned a few movies, but my top ones are: The Lion King, Bolt, How to Train Your Dragon, and Trick ‘r Treat. Movies I watch every year are The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween, and the Twilight series in the summer. -The rat lore goes deep, guys. It was a paper, a presentation, a speech, more presentations, a board in the writing center, gifts, and everyday usage in my family. The rat lore is crazy, but I will summarize. An ex-friend called her pets Agent Rodent (and then pet name). I called Luci and Beanie rats. It turned into calling them a rat when they were naughty. My family picked up on it. We started calling each other rats when we disagreed with what the other did. Or, saying things like “that was such rat behavior”. When classes want us to write about words, language, definitions, or put things in our own voice, rat came out. Hence, the papers and presentations. I called the kids I worked with during the summer at the writing center rats. Hence, the writing center learning about rat behavior. Hence, the rat board. I have rat stickers and rat stuffed animals now. I am that committed to the bit. Rats, are indeed, NOT my favorite animal. The lore is sooo deep it just continues and now it seems I have a rat obsession. No longer do I get lions or polar bears for Christmas, my actual favorite animals. It is rats now. -Shrimps are a new thing. I do like the food, but just like rats this is a bit that has gone way too far but I continue it. One of my favorite videos on YouTube is the shrimp quartet by justan oval. By other favorite video is a wet kitten in a cup, not connected to the shrimp lore I just thought I would mention it. Anyways, plushes of the shrimps got made and I have two of justan oval’s shrimp plushes. Iconic of me. Then Walmart had some meme song about Radioactive Shrimp, and I have a shrimp mug of that. A friend of my younger sister got me a shrimp neck pillow and a shrimp pin. So shrimp is like rat, but not as intense. Not yet. -Smosh is my other favorite channel on YouTube, specifically the games. Yes, I do enjoy watching people play board games. It is fun to me. And I also like the Reddit Stories. I find some of the Smosh cast very funny. I also got my younger sister involved in liking Smosh. We watch some of the videos together, and it is a good bonding times. – I have pins of Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel. I watched Helluva Boss first, for a long time. Back when Hazbin just had the pilot on YouTube. Now it is popular on Amazon Prime, and everyone is always asking me about Hazbin Hotel. Justice for my guy Helluva Boss. It is just as good guys. Way fewer songs and that is enjoyable cause Hazbin Hotel seems to want to hit the two songs per episode, but some songs are not it. My favorite characters are Stolas and Millie from Helluva Boss and Zestial and Carmilla from Hazbin Hotel -Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is the only one my family goes all out for. Putting up so many decorations and getting so much stuff we make goodie bags for the kids. I love dressing up as Sam from Trick ‘r Treat or a grim reaper to scare the kids. Favorite holiday as I love creepy, weird, horror stuff and giving to people. I also love fall. My birthday is in September, I love pumpkin, love fall colors, and it is all so joyous to me. -D&D or DND, Dungeons and Dragons, is a new love of mine. It started in Intro to Journalism. We had to pick a club to interview, I skimmed the events happening (it was towards the end of the semester so it was all parties) and D&D caught my eye. My dad has played D&D since middle school. He bought many books, figures, props, and information stuff over the years. I knew he would be able to assist in helping me understand things. He got so excited I was asking about D&D. Interviewing the eboard, seeing the club run, and his excitement got me into playing. I joined the club next semester. Over the summer, Criag was doing D&D with the kids, and said they could go to me for help. I got scared cause I am still very new to D&D. It all worked out, and last semester I became the new public relations for the club. I am on the eboard helping the club stay running. My dad gave me some of my favorite things for Christmas over break, like Funkos and a rat stuffed animal, but he also gave me a bunch of D&D dice and figures. He offers to help the club all the time, supplying figures and books when I am a player in a one-shot or other cool items when it is Kean Day and the club is tabling.
Some pictures for those who read all that:
This is a Funko Pop of me, Luci, and Beanie next to half of my Komi Can’t Communicate collection. Below are some of my Funkos
Here are my favorite pins!
Some video game stuff
Vinyls and Albums
Books
Luci, Beanie and Elfo
Rat Board
Shrimp stuff
D&D
Thank you for reading and looking at all of that!
The official class site for Dr. Mia Zamora's Spring 2026 "New Media" course: ENG 4060 & ENG 5085
