AI-Assisted Writing

Honors Writing Course Syllabus

Course Description:

This course is designed for students who are interested in exploring the possibilities of using AI technology in the writing process. Students will have the opportunity to use a large language model to assist in the production of one full written work per week, such as a novel or screenplay. Assignments will be graded on a bell curve, with the help of AI. Students will also have the option to continue developing their final project in the follow-up course "AI-Assisted Cinema."

Class Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction to AI technology in writing

• Introduce the large language model and its capabilities
• Learn about tokenization, context windows, and summarization
• Writing Assignment: Write a short story using AI-Assisted Writing

Week 2: Fact-checking and accuracy in AI-assisted writing

• Discuss the importance of fact-checking and accuracy in AI-assisted writing
• Learn about the types of factual mistakes AI is most likely to make, and how to use AI to assist in fact-checking
• Writing Assignment: Write a non-fiction piece using AI-Assisted Writing

Week 3: Prompt design and re-prompting

• Learn how to design effective prompts for the large language model
• Understand the importance of re-prompting for better results
• Writing Assignment: Write a poem or a song using AI-Assisted Writing

Week 4: Multi-stage prompts

• Learn how to use multi-stage prompts to guide the writing process
• Discuss the benefits of using multi-stage prompts
• Writing Assignment: Write a script for a play or a movie using AI-Assisted Writing

Week 5: Spelling, Grammar, and Style

• Overview of the modalities of text used in language model training
• Learn the importance of subtle cues in written language
• Writing Assignment: Write a novel using AI-Assisted Writing

Week 6, 7, 8: Writing and group critiques

• Work on final written assignments
• Participate in group critiques to receive feedback on writing
• Continue to develop final project

Week 9: Final presentations

• Present final project and discuss the use of AI technology in the writing process
• Receive final grades for the course

Course Goals:

• Develop a deep understanding of the capabilities and limitations of AI technology in the writing process
• Learn how to use large language models to generate, edit, and improve writing
• Understand the importance of fact-checking and accuracy in AI-assisted writing
• Develop skills in prompt design and re-prompting for the best results
• Learn how to use multi-stage prompts to guide the writing process
• Create a full written work with the help of AI technology

Course Requirements:

• One full written work per week, to be submitted through the course platform
• Active participation in class discussions and group critiques
• A final project, which may be continued in the follow-up course "AI-Assisted Cinema"

Grading:

• Each student will be provisioned 250k tokens per day on the university AI for the duration of the course
• Assignments will be graded with AI assistance, on a standard A,B,C,D,F scale
• Final project will be graded based on the use of AI technology, creativity, and overall quality of writing