The Future of Writing in a Post-AI World (Slideshow)
Writing Instruction Must Evolve
A few years ago, we heard that “the college essay is dead.” Today, AI can write a passable paper in seconds, and panic has followed in schools everywhere. But we’ve been here before. The same thing happened with calculators in math. Once teachers shifted from grading answers to “show your work”, math didn’t die — it evolved and improved.
In a world where AI can generate prose, the final essay tells us less about a student’s mind than ever before. The solution isn’t to ban AI; it’s to make thinking visible. That means bringing “Show Your Work” to writing — helping students reveal their reasoning, structure, and voice at every step of the process.
This presentation lays out how writing instruction can evolve:
From product to process
From grading essays to coaching thinking
From “Did you write this?” to “How are you thinking about this?”
AI won’t end writing. But it will expose how little we’ve valued the thinking behind it.
“Show Your Work” is the path forward.
Sources
Stephen Marche, “The College Essay Is Dead. Nobody Is Prepared for How AI Will Transform Academia.” The Atlantic, December 6 2022.
Daniel Herman, “The End of High-School English.” The Atlantic, December 9 2022.
Janesville Gazette (Wisconsin), February 18 1975
Wired, Elana Klein, “Math Teachers Feared Calculators Would Ruin Students,” August 18 2025
Digital Education Council, Global AI Student Survey 2024 (August 2024).
Audrey Watters, “A Brief History of Calculators in the Classroom.” Hack Education, 2015 — citing NCTM An Agenda for Action (1980).
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 Writing Results — via Education Week report, “Most Students Fail to Reach Proficiency in Writing.”
Turnitin press release and Wired coverage, April 2024: “Turnitin Finds AI-Generated Text in 11% of Student Papers.”
Daniel!!!! I have been doing a very similar presentation for a year or two now (although I've never used the sewing machine analogy - good one!) I've also noticed that there seems to be buy-in... up until the part where I talk about the "grading" workload.
Then all sorts of edu-types get worried of the optics of teachers relying on AI to somehow "do their work". To me, the benefit of being able to offer timely, accurate feedback via AI tools in a way that I could NEVER accomplish as a teacher is the most promising part of AI in the writing world. In fact, I think that real-time, quality, personalized feedback for EACH student, at their level could be such a game changer in producing students who are actual writers!
So, thank you for your post. I have several blog posts about this very topic sitting in draft format because I've been reluctant to post them. (I've only put out one measly short one almost 2 years ago: https://cammiekannekensblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/29/on-ai-grading-of-student-writing/)
Yes! Writing Instruction Must Evolve. (And more English teachers need to push our comrades thinking on this!)