Does the use of AI-assisted writing by IB students raise concerns over academic integrity?

The use of AI has permeated almost every aspect of our lives through social media, chatbots by business organizations and many other online platforms. It's fascinating, yet worrying, that using AI to assist in writing is becoming prevalent among students preparing for written coursework. Can it really be considered authentic writing if a student's coursework is written by a machine?

IB students often use writing software to improve their sentence construction, identify and correct grammar or spelling errors. While this practice is acceptable and doesn't raise issues with academic integrity, there are other software applications which students can tap on to write whole paragraphs and pages using AI suggestions based on just a few key words.

Here's a simple example of how deep AI can go with assistive writing. I used a free AI writing software to enter just 5 key words on "Biology educator, IB education adviser" and input previous writing history on some social media apps. This AI paragraph was immediately suggested:-

"As someone who has been a Biology educator for over two decades and an IB education adviser, I believe that the IB Diploma Programme is an excellent way to prepare students for university. I have seen first-hand how the IB Diploma Programme has positively affected students. The programme's focus on developing critical thinking skills, encouraging independent research, and providing global perspectives is exactly what universities are looking for in their students."

What if a student had 80% of his/her IB coursework written with AI-assisted software in this way? IB teachers are already being vigilant over students' submitted work in soft copy. Perhaps they need to understand how AI-assisted software could be used for improving sentence construction while maintaining academic integrity through the student's authentic ideas and proper citations. It is meant to help students with rewriting their sentences and help them learn better ways to phrase their own ideas.

Let us not simply condemn the use of AI completely nor outrightly embrace it as an IB student's answer to poor writing skills. Let us guide our students to use AI within certain limits so that they retain authenticity in their written work.