ChatGPT launched nearly two years ago, providing mainstream accessibility to AI writing applications. Dramatic headlines questioned whether generative AI would signal the death of the college essay, and who would be the first to ban the technology. As debates around authorship, originality and authenticity raged from newsrooms to classrooms, writing - both AI or human generated - continued unabated. Today, there are still many questions surrounding how AI tools will continue to evolve in education and beyond, and whether it will be AI or human writing that ultimately prevails.
As a team working to stay ahead of the artificial intelligence curve in education, we committed from the beginning to share our key learnings, what we expect to see next and how the education community might plan and prepare.
As we come to the end of the year, we’ve gathered our top five predictions for the future of AI in education and reveal how the continued use of generative AI tools point to some exciting and unexpected outcomes.
Prediction 1: ChatGPT and other AI writing tools will put an emphasis on the value of human writing, making it more important than ever before and more accessible for all
While many have questioned whether the future of writing will be dominated by AI or human contributions, the college essay and writing in general will remain very much alive and well in 2025.
We expect a renewed focus on human writing with a broader purpose - clear communication that demonstrates knowledge and understanding, enhanced, not replaced by available technology. With AI making basic elements of writing more accessible to all, this renaissance of writing will emphasize the ability to combine topical knowledge, critical thinking, mastery of language and AI applications to develop written work.
We know that students will continue to leverage AI writing tools. In a recent survey by Tyton Partners, nearly half of the students surveyed shared that they will likely keep using generative AI tools, even if they are banned; a 21% increase from spring 2023.* This indicates that, when making the important decision between relying on AI or human writing for their work, students are increasingly opting for AI as their preferred choice.
Instead of being warned against using generative AI, students will be asked to move from demand—asking AI writing tools to produce work on their behalf—to command—owning the content creation process from start to finish and leveraging technology where it can be used to edit, enhance or expand original thinking. This shift will resurface the idea of co-authorship, including transparency around how written work comes together and disclosure of when and how AI tools were used to support the process.
Prediction 2: As AI is integrated more broadly, it will actually support an increase in human creativity, not replace it
Much of the fuss around AI writing tools can be traced to an issue of sequencing and timing. The adoption of ChatGPT was lightning fast, reaching one million users in under a week, and leaving little time for thoughtful and responsible integration. Its launch, just before final exams and holiday break in many regions, provided school-aged users with ample downtime to test the new, hot tool, while their teachers and professors were wrapping up one term and heading into another.
According to the Tyton Partner’s study, 59% of students reported regular use (monthly or more) of generative AI tools, compared to less than 40% of educators.* At first, institutions and educators found themselves outpaced in the race to understand the impact and potential implications of generative AI on creativity and originality. But, as adoption increased on both sides, so have expectations of the generated content as well as the ideas and inputs that prompted those results.
AI tools have, perhaps unintentionally, forced an evolution of thought and an expansion of ideation principles - even opening new areas of academic focus and study like prompt engineering. The ability to generate what you need quickly and efficiently through creative, and iterative prompts is a newly marketable skill that both requires and supports critical thinking.
There is no simple answer to whether AI or human writing will take precedence, but both can be used together to achieve the best possible outcome, with each complementing the other to enhance creativity and efficiency.
Prediction 3: Writing will be recognized as a critical skill, not just for writing focused areas of study, but across learning, working and living environments
While some of us are still debating the ease vs. the intrusiveness of AI-enabled auto-correct and auto-completion, many have moved on to increasingly sophisticated ways of incorporating AI beyond the expected digital art and AI writing. Writing is a critical skill in nearly every subject area. Different learning, working, collaboration and living environments, as well as expanded areas of study from engineering and economics to mathematics and music theory will rely on writing and communication skills.
Natural language becomes the most powerful way to interact with and command computers. The ability to work with AI to relay important information and complex concepts clearly will become an important - if not the most important - skill. We may see a future where AI-augmented writing and humanities becomes the most sought after technical skill.
However, the original tenets of learning remain, along with the need for written work, whether AI or human-driven, to illustrate understanding, inspiration, alignment, negotiation and collaboration.
Even as AI is integrated more broadly, writing remains the best way to assess skills, and the most tangible representation of learning and understanding for educators to give feedback.
Prediction 4: Accessibility and equity will return to the core discussion around AI, especially for education
From the beginning there have been two schools of thought around the value of generative AI to education systems and institutions that are still working towards broader accessibility and equity.
On one hand, you have those who see AI capabilities, including real-time translation, voice reactivity and response, as the great equalizers. Their ability to remove language and cultural barriers, recreate exclusive experiences from travel to art collection, and perform simple tasks to improve grammar and increase fluency could level the playing field.
On the other hand, you have those who consider the risk of widening technology and learning gaps as leading genAI providers toy with nonprofit and for-profit status and close rounds of funding beyond anything we’ve seen. The move to premium subscriptions and pay-walled access is a natural next step that could bring us right back to the start, where socio-economic and funding discrepancies as well as geographic and cultural factors have tangible implications on access.
In either future, whether writing begins as AI or human-driven, the ability to operate between both will be key to advancing communication and creativity.
Prediction 5: There will be a shift in the use and purpose of generative AI tools and AI writing detection
Generative AI and AI writing detection tools will continue to evolve, adding advanced functionality and capabilities to match each other’s detectability flex. Perhaps most importantly, the end users of these technologies are reaching higher levels of familiarity and maturity with AI functionality, resulting in a shift in how they are leveraged.
Recognizing the limitations and potential implications of generative AI tools, students and the broader community will likely scale use to where it is most helpful. Savvy users will take a bookend approach, focusing on early stage ideation, organization and expansion of original ideas as well as late stage improvement and refinement of ideas and writing.
Coupling the use of generative AI with agentic AI applications will help to overcome some of the current limitations, introducing multi-source analysis and adaptation capabilities to the writing process.
Use of detection tools will change and improve as well, with a focus on preserving the teaching and learning process and increasing engagement between educators and students. In early stages, detection tools and indicator reports will create opportunities to focus teaching on addressing knowledge gaps and areas lacking original thought or foundation.
Later stage detection will offer additional opportunities to strengthen the dialogue between educators and students, providing transparency and visibility that will reduce student risk and increase engagement. The integration of detection tools will enhance the overall educational experience, ensuring that each method, whether AI or human, supports the learning and writing process.
Final thoughts: AI or human? What our predictions tell us about the future of AI
2023 was a year of adoption and acceleration - students, educators, academic institutions and tech companies alike were testing and learning in real time. 2024 was a year of acceptance and understanding - we established that AI writing tools and the effort to identify their use were not going away and we had to find a way to integrate new technologies thoughtfully and responsibly.
2025 brings a chance to rebuild the connection between students and educators and bridge the gap between policy and practice, expectation and reality. A focus on development and expansion of skills, as well as an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the technology will support and enhance critical thinking, communication and writing processes.
Overall, we predict that 2025 will be the year that AI gives a much-needed boost to the value of traditional human writing.
*Turnitin was a partner in providing compensation to conduct Tyton’s Time for Class 2024: Unlocking Access to Effective Digital Teaching & Learning.