Using AI Text as Prompts for Critical Analysis

This assignment, by Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, is from the TextGenEd collection in the WAC Clearinghouse Repository.

The abstract from the site explains:

In this assignment, students are provided with an AI-generated text relevant to a course’s topics and focus and then asked to comment, review, and expand on it using a feature such as “track changes.” In engaging with the AI-generated text, students review their knowledge, offer critiques, modify theoretical and empirical claims, and provide concrete examples that illustrate or disprove the provided answer. Their critical and evaluative efforts for the course’s topics are foregrounded, and additionally, they gain some AI literacy in evaluating the AI-generated text.

Key Features of This Assignment

Critical Engagement with AI-Generated Texts
Students are provided with AI-generated texts relevant to the course topics and are asked to comment, review, and expand on these texts using text-editing software. This exercise helps students develop critical thinking skills by evaluating the quality of AI-generated content in relation to the course materials.
Modification and Contextualization
Students are required to modify the AI-generated text to align its claims with those of the literature discussed in the course. This involves adding contextual information, correcting factual and theoretical mistakes, and integrating original cases and personal experiences to develop the themes of the essay further.
Focus on Theoretical and Empirical Claims
Through this assignment, students learn to identify and address assumptions about class, gender, race, and ability in AI-generated texts. They are tasked with providing examples and counterexamples to the claims made in the text, enhancing their ability to critically analyze and contextualize theoretical and empirical content.