By: Maddie Schmidt
Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise, leading many to contemplate its impact on student learning. The emergence of platforms such as ChatGPT has made AI more accessible for students, and the use of these platforms has become normalized in recent years.
The normalization of AI has created a tricky situation in writing classes. Many professors and students debate the use of AI and wonder how much it pushes against the boundaries of writing. This leaves the question, how has AI impacted Southern Adventist University’s Writing Center? In the Winter 2025 semester, the university’s Writing Center conducted 1,007 appointments, according to Sonja Fordham, director of the Writing and Tutoring centers at Southern
Fordham stated that since the emergence of AI, there has not been a significant change in the number of students who use the Writing Center resources.
“There is a slight fluctuation in the number of appointments each semester, but there does not seem to be a downward trend,” Fordham stated. “In the winter of 2023, when students first started using ChatGPT, we had a decrease in the number of appointments at the Writing Center. However, the numbers increased in Fall 2023 and have stayed constant since then.”
Although the number of appointments at the Writing Center has remained consistent, Miyoung Park, a junior elementary education major who works for the Writing Center, believes many students turn to AI instead of utilizing the Writing Center resources.
“It is so much easier to just pull up another tab and open ChatGPT than to go on Myaccess [Southern’s online student portal], complete all of the steps to schedule an appointment, then take time out of your day to actually go to the library for your appointment,” Park said. “It’s a whole process, so it is definitely more convenient to use AI.”
Park believes more should be done to help students understand the benefits of using resources such as the Writing Center instead of turning to AI. She said students should be continually reminded of the help they have available to them, where they will actually practice and learn the critical-thinking process of writing.
Matthew DeOliveira, a junior accounting major, believes many students do not know what the Writing Center does and how helpful it is. He said that he has not heard students share their experience with the Writing Center.
He explained that his lack of knowledge about the Writing Center has made him hesitant to use it for assistance with his classes and added that he might have used it in the past if he knew specifically what kind of help the center provides.
According to English professor Blake Gorth, some students may shy away from going to the Writing Center because there is a certain vulnerability in showing someone else their writing. Gorth said it requires less vulnerability for someone to input their writing to AI, which is incapable of passing judgment.
Briana Fong, a senior English education major who works for the Writing Center, shared the tutors’ approach to helping students with their writing.
“The Writing Center is a very positive environment,” Fong said. “Everyone here wants to help you in whatever way that we can and give you feedback that professors are not always able to take the time to give you in the writing process.”
Fong said that students may come to the Writing Center at any point in the writing process, whether it is to ask clarifying questions, to put the final changes on an essay or to get help with brainstorming ideas for a project.
According to Fong, most writing tutors have already taken many of the classes that students need help with. Tutors can give curated advice about different professors or classes from personal experience, something that AI is not able to provide.
Fong expressed that critical thinking is an important skill to foster, and that simply asking AI to fix errors or to improve writing is dangerous, as it trains people to bypass critical thinking.
Although often perceived as a way to cheat on assignments, AI has the potential to be a helpful tool. For example, Park explained that AI can assist people with reading or learning disabilities. Certain AI platforms will take a reading assignment and turn it into audio, so a student can listen to the material instead.
AI can also be helpful when turning data into graphs, which can be useful when trying to write persuasively.
According to Gorth, AI can be used as another set of eyes to analyze content that has already been written and to help students find background information efficiently for their writing projects. He expressed that it is still imperative to fact check the information before believing it to be accurate.
Gorth explained that AI can be used positively but that it is critical to use it in moderation and with discernment.
“AI is a tool, just like a car; it can get us places a lot faster than if we just walked,” Gorth said. “However, if it is our primary method of transportation, we stop using our legs [and] that is going to have a negative effect on our bodies. Similarly, with AI, if it is the only thing we rely on, it is going to have a negative effect on our minds. It’s all about using it in the proper context, in the proper situation.”
Students at Southern can make an appointment at the Writing Center at Myaccess>Resources>Schedule Tutoring>Schedule a Writing Center Appointment.
