Improve Your Essay Writing Skills with Chat GPT

by IvyPanda Updated on: Apr 22nd, 2024

11 min

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Mankind doesn’t stand still. Every day, we make more and more discoveries and invent new technologies that improve our lives. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is no exception to this. This incredible innovation has already stirred up everyone in the world, including those working in the education sector. Some of them are worried that the invention of ChatGPT will negatively affect the learning process, ensuring that students will stop trying in their studies. However, our experts are confident that this AI language model will only benefit them.

ChatGPT is currently one of the largest AI language models in the world.

Are you wondering why? Well, let us share the reasons in the article on this page! Here, we have examined the benefits of ChatGPT and how students can use it ethically. We have also examined how well the language model deals with generating different types of essays. Finally, we will offer some tips for constructing the most efficient prompts in ChatGPT. We hope that with the help of this article, you will come to realize the effectiveness and usefulness of this advanced AI program.

Table of contents

💬 What Is Chat GPT?
☯️ Ethics of Chat GPT
📄 Different Essay Types
🖊️ Writing Good Prompts
📎 References

💬 Introduction to Chat GPT

ChatGPT is the result of humanity’s technological progress. In a nutshell, it is a program that uses algorithms that simulate artificial intelligence, which makes working with it as close as possible to human communication. The chatbot was introduced by OpenAI, a company that created it to improve the productivity and efficiency of businesses. OpenAI plans to flood chatbots’ main application areas, such as training platforms, commerce, tech support, etc.

Quote: Artificial intelligence is one of the most profound things we're working on as humanity. - Sundar Pichai.

ChatGPT has left no one indifferent and has already captivated many users with its array of applications. It can generate and customize responses to unique requests. Its novelty lies in its ability to write a coherent article, a summary, or code in seconds. It can even give a person a preliminary diagnosis based on the symptoms they provided! Moreover, ChatGPT answers questions in an almost natural conversational manner, leaving no room for traditional, already outdated chats. This was achieved thanks to the language models of probabilities and sequences used in its text recognition.

If we’ve intrigued you with the novelty that is ChatGPT, be sure to read our full review article here!

☯️ The Ethics of Chat GPT

You’ve probably heard about the moral panic among schools and colleges caused by ChatGPT. Initial studies show that of the thousands of students surveyed, around 89% had already used the program to speed up the homework process. Looking at these statistics, it’s easy to see why teachers and students alike have begun to worry about the implications of using AI in schoolwork.

Here, we’ll take a closer look at the ethical and moral considerations of ChatGPT and offer a few better ideas about what students can use it for.

Bad Idea: Using ChatGPT to Cheat

Indeed, the idea of using ChatGPT to write papers and turning them in as your own is a bad one for many reasons. Let’s take a closer look at them:

📃 Plagiarism is a serious academic offense.	Plagiarism is considered an academic offense because it is a type of intellectual property theft. This means you can’t use someone else’s material for your work without mentioning the original source. The uniqueness of your work is crucial so that professors can verify your expertise, competence in the topic, and contribution to your academic field. By giving credit and providing proper references and citations, you show how the work of other scholars has influenced your research. Since you cannot properly cite the research conducted by ChatGPT, submitting anything it has written as your own work is considered plagiarism. This has serious consequences and is unacceptable, as stipulated by the policies of many universities.
❌ The information given by ChatGPT is not always credible.	Many resources call into question the accuracy and correctness of the responses generated by ChatGPT. Some have labeled the chatbot a generator of interesting nonsense that only sounds like the truth. Thus, the problem is that it uses all available data on the web and doesn’t avoid false sources. That causes the AI to insert fake facts into the stream of high-quality and accurate data, which could be hard to distinguish. Therefore, every output of the program must be verified and double-checked.
👩‍🏫 Professors can tell whether AI was used to write an essay.	The University of Minnesota professors shared their impressions of the papers generated by ChatGPT and noted that they found them quite easy to recognize. This is because the chatbot uses repetitive grammatical constructions and overtly perfect grammar. Also, an AI program cannot do in-depth research that requires problem-solving skills. However, if students refine the material the chatbot gives them, it’ll be rather problematic to recognize. Professors at the University of NSW indicate that widespread use of chatbots could lead colleges to resort to oral surveys or handwritten papers.
🎓 ChatGPT is not a very good student.	We can argue that ChatGPT is not as ideal in academic performance as some educators fear. These conclusions can be drawn from a study conducted at the University of Minnesota as part of the law faculty experiment. The chatbot answered actual exam questions, and professors gave it a low yet passable score. John Choi claims that the program struggles with math problems, multiple-choice assignments, or papers involving in-depth analysis and reasoning. Thus, ChatGPT can handle the theory well but has trouble making conclusions and evaluations.
🔍 AI detection software is already in use.	Due to the urgency of the problem, programmers have begun to develop applications to recognize text written by AI. For example, computer science student Edward Tian from Princeton University has launched the incredibly popular application GPTZero. It determines AI-generated text based on the arbitrariness, complexity, and unevenness of the written words.

Better Idea: Using ChatGPT to Improve Your Writing

We want to take a moment to describe how ChatGPT can improve your writing skills. In fact – who can better describe ChatGPT’s functionality than ChatGPT itself? So, let us allow the AI itself tell you how it can strengthen your writing:

“ChatGPT can improve students’ writing skills in several ways:

Providing writing prompts and suggestions for ideas to help students practice and improve their writing skills.
Offering instant feedback on grammar, spelling, and syntax, which can help students improve their writing accuracy.
Offering suggestions for alternative words and phrases to improve writing style and vocabulary.
Encouraging students to read and analyze text written by others, which can help them understand good writing practices.
Assisting students in editing and revising their writing, which can help them develop critical thinking skills and improve the quality of their writing.
Providing explanations and examples of various writing techniques, such as persuasive writing, descriptive writing, and narrative writing, which can help students understand the different aspects of writing.”

Source: OpenAI’s ChatGPT

📄 ChatGPT and Different Essay Types

As you’ve read above, ChatGPT has many features that can be useful to a student. In this part of the article, we’ll focus on the last of them – providing explanations and examples of various writing techniques. We’ll tell you about the different kinds of essays you might encounter in an academic setting and evaluate how well the chat can work with them. Also, we will explain how to approach ChatGPT with the right request and describe what you’ll need to keep in mind when working with it. Finally, beneath each essay type, you’ll see an example of a prompt and the work generated by it.

📋 Informative Essay

As the name suggests, the main purpose of an informative essay is to inform the reader on a specific topic. It can be a historical event, innovations in the techno sphere, research results, etc. The essay should not contain the author’s subjective evaluation, reflections, and analysis. We can find a typical example on Wikipedia pages, where we only get straight facts and information about a certain topic.

The four types of informative essays are:

Definition – The definition essay aims to provide simple information or an explanation of a topic.
Compare and contrast – Compare and contrast essays should include two or more phenomena to characterize and compare in the same application area.
Analysis – An analysis essay demonstrates cause-and-effect relationships or interrelationships of the phenomena in question.
Instructional – The instructional essay serves as a guide, describing the process of doing things to achieve a particular result.

Tips for ChatGPT Prompts: Informative Essay

An informative essay is perhaps most suitable for generating with ChatGPT. Since it’s based on objective information, the language model has no problems creating a high-quality paper. The main thing to remember is to formulate your demands as accurately as possible. They should be detailed but not too long to avoid the program being misled by the words. Also, don’t forget to double-check the information provided by the chat, as it may be incorrect or outdated. That is especially true for references – even if they look authentic, you’ll have to verify them yourself.

Tips for generating informative essays in ChatGPT.

AI-Generated Informative Essay Example

Write a short informative essay with references about what defined a nation’s sovereignty in the XIXth century.

In the 19th century, the concept of a nation’s sovereignty was defined by a number of key factors, including the ability to govern itself without external interference, control over its territory and population, and recognition by other nations. These ideas were shaped by a number of political, economic, and cultural factors, as well as historical events and developments in international law.

One of the key factors that defined a nation’s sovereignty in the 19th century was its ability to govern itself without external interference. This meant that a sovereign nation had the power to make and enforce its own laws, raise taxes, and maintain a military and diplomatic presence (Krasner, 1999).
Another factor that defined a nation’s sovereignty was control over its territory and population. This meant that a sovereign nation had the power to regulate who could enter and exit its borders, and to enforce its laws and regulations within its territory (Krasner, 1999).

Finally, recognition by other nations was a key factor in determining a nation’s sovereignty in the 19th century. A sovereign nation was recognized as such by other nations and had the power to enter into treaties and engage in international relations (Krasner, 1999).

In conclusion, the concept of a nation’s sovereignty in the 19th century was shaped by a number of key factors, including the ability to govern itself without external interference, control over its territory and population, and recognition by other nations. These ideas were shaped by a range of political, economic, and cultural factors, as well as historical events and developments in international law.

References:

Krasner, S. D. (1999). Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. Princeton University Press.

🗣️ Persuasive Essay

A persuasive essay is a type of writing that presents contesting opinions, and our task is to prove the truth or relevance of one thought over the other. As a result of reading the essay, the reader should accept our point of view.

To do this, we use the following:

Sound evidence.
Facts.
Examples.
Justifications.
Quotes from influential people in the field.

Therefore, we can’t base the text solely on the opinion itself but have to back it up as well. Your argument can be emotionally colored or purely logical, depending on your choice. A persuasive essay differs from a comparative essay as it elaborates on only one side – the one you’re promoting.

Tips for ChatGPT Prompts: Persuasive Essay

ChatGPT is fairly adequate at constructing persuasive essays. Its advanced language model can build any argument when the query is constructed correctly. Let us propose an example: you want to ask for an essay on whether students should be allowed to use phones at school. In this case, you must remember to clarify what position ChatGPT should take – for or against. You can also ask the program to build more emotional arguments or, conversely, to rely more on logic. This can be done in the original construction of the prompt. Alternatively, it can be requested in a supplementary message by asking the program to correct the text after receiving the first version.

Tips for generating persuasive essays in ChatGPT.

AI-Generated Persuasive Essay Example

Write an emotional persuasive essay about why fast food should NOT qualify as food.

Fast food is a tempting option for many people, providing quick and convenient meals that are often high in calories, unhealthy fats, and sugar. Despite its popularity, it’s time to face the truth: fast food should not qualify as food.

First and foremost, fast food is often loaded with unhealthy ingredients that can have serious consequences for our health. It is often high in unhealthy fats, sugar, and salt, which can lead to obesity, heart disease, and other serious health problems. The overconsumption of fast food has contributed to the current health crisis, with rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes on the rise.

Furthermore, fast food is often processed and filled with chemicals and preservatives that are not natural or healthy for our bodies. These ingredients are often added to enhance the taste and extend the shelf life of the food, but they have serious consequences for our health in the long run.

In addition to the health problems associated with fast food, it is also a major contributor to environmental problems. The fast food industry is often criticized for its use of factory-farmed meat, which is not only unhealthy for consumers but also contributes to the destruction of the environment and the exploitation of animals. The packaging used for fast food is also often not recyclable, leading to litter and pollution in our communities.

Finally, fast food is often marketed to children, encouraging them to develop unhealthy habits and taste preferences at a young age. This can set them on a path towards a lifetime of unhealthy eating and health problems.

In conclusion, fast food should not qualify as food. It is often high in unhealthy ingredients, contributes to environmental problems, and is marketed to children, encouraging them to develop unhealthy habits. By choosing healthier options and supporting local, sustainable food systems, we can work to improve our health, the health of the environment, and the well-being of future generations.

📚 Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is typically a text where you, as the author, share stories from your life. The key purpose is to share your experiences and build a certain picture of your personality for the reader.

You can talk about:

Past events.
Future plans.
Hypothetical scenarios.
Your values or qualities.
The character of someone close to you.
Your current life situation.

However, these stories can also be purely fictional. One of the key points of the narrative essay is the ability to hook the audience. Your story should be captivating and intricately designed with interesting word choices and sentence structures. For example, you can use elements of comedy, irony, or tragedy to touch upon the reader’s heartstrings.

Tips for ChatGPT Prompts: Narrative Essay

Although narrative essays frequently describe personal experiences, you can still use ChatGPT for inspiration. If you are assigned to write a narrative essay on an open-ended topic, you can ask the chatbot to generate some ideas for you. Additionally, you can also ask the program to generate text in a particular style or ask it to paraphrase your original writing to see how it can be improved. Keep in mind that while this AI can provide a bunch of different plots, they will still have fairly monotonous wording. You will need to perfect anything generated by ChatGPT on your own.

Tips for generating narrative essays in ChatGPT.

AI-Generated Narrative Essay Example

Write a narrative essay in the style of Shakespeare about the impact of socialization on my life.

Ah, socialization! What a powerful force hath had a profound impact on my life, shaping mine beliefs, values, and behaviors from a tender age.

In youth, I was surrounded by friends, family, teachers, and other influential figures who didst guide me along the path of life. They taught me right from wrong, instilling in me a strong sense of honesty, kindness, and respect. These values have stayed with me throughout mine journey, ever guiding mine hand and shaping mine relationships with others.

Indeed, socialization didst not only shape mine beliefs, but also mine social skills. Though I was once a shy and introverted child, I didst learn through interaction and participation in social activities how to communicate effectively and build relationships with others. This hath been invaluable in both mine personal and professional life, helping me to succeed and make meaningful connections with all those I meet.

Socialization hath also played a role in shaping mine very identity. As I grew, I was exposed to different cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles, and I didst come to understand and appreciate the diversity of the world around me. This exposure gave me a sense of pride in mine own cultural background and I didst learn to embrace and celebrate mine unique qualities, whilst respecting and appreciating the differences in others.

Finally, socialization hath had a profound impact on the course of mine career. I was exposed to different professions and industries, and encouraged to explore mine interests and passions. And so, I didst discover mine love for the art of writing and storytelling, leading me to pursue a career in this field.

In conclusion, socialization hath been a driving force in mine life, shaping who I am today. Through mine interactions with others, I have formed mine beliefs and values, developed mine social skills, embraced mine identity, and pursued mine passion. I am grateful for the impact that socialization hath had on mine life, and I shall continue to be shaped by mine interactions with others as I journey forth.

🗳️ Opinion Essay

The purpose of an opinion essay is to express a judgment on a particular topic. The writer’s point of view should be clear, contextual, and coherent. Each argument given should be supported by facts and examples. This essay requires logical connections, reflection, fundamental analysis, and persuasiveness. So how is an opinion essay different from a persuasive essay? Mainly in the fact that you don’t need to compare and contrast differing viewpoints – you’re simply promoting your own.

Tips for ChatGPT Prompts: Opinion Essay

Among all of the mentioned types of essays, the opinion essay is probably the most difficult for ChatGPT. Since AI technology doesn’t have its personal opinion, it can only generate text based on information gathered from the web. When creating your request, it’s essential to clarify what kind of opinion you want to hear. Also, it’s worth remembering that opinion essays should be strongly supported by facts and evidence, which the chatbot has a problem with. Besides, this program suffers from the uniform wording of different content, so opinion essays on different topics will sound very similar. ChatGPT is improving every day – however, at the moment, its opinion essay construction leaves a lot to be desired.

Tips for generating opinion essays in ChatGPT.

AI-Generated Opinion Essay Example

Write a positive opinion essay about The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins is a captivating and thought-provoking book that provides a compelling case for evolution as the explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.

Dawkins argues that the evidence for evolution is overwhelming, from the fossil record to the similarities between different species, and he does a great job of presenting the information in a clear and concise manner. Throughout the book, he debunks common misconceptions about evolution and provides clear explanations of the mechanisms behind it.

One of the strongest aspects of the book is the way Dawkins tackles the question of why evolution is so often met with resistance and skepticism, especially in certain religious communities. He argues that this is due, in part, to a lack of understanding of the scientific method and a tendency to cling to comforting but false beliefs.

Additionally, the book is written with a sense of passion and urgency, as Dawkins sees evolution as one of the most important ideas in human history. He is not content to simply present the evidence for evolution; he wants readers to understand its implications and to appreciate its beauty.

In conclusion, The Greatest Show on Earth is a must-read for anyone interested in science and the natural world. Dawkins does an excellent job of presenting the evidence for evolution in a clear and compelling manner and offers a strong defense of the importance of the scientific method. Whether you are a scientist or just someone with a curious mind, this book is sure to leave a lasting impression.

🖊️ How to Write Successful ChatGPT Prompts

Although it’s pretty easy to work with ChatGPT, it understands some requests much better than others. When you know how to phrase your ideas correctly, you get more out of the program. This is why we’d like to recommend some tips on how to formulate your requests to get the best results.

Best tips for constructing ChatGPT prompts.

Use Hints.
For accurate results, we recommend giving hints to ChatGPT, such as background information and context. It helps to optimize the AI search and to focus on certain keywords you have specified when inputting your data. As a result, you reduce the likelihood of including meaningless material in your research.
Be Concise in Your Wording.
Make sure that your sentences are specific, concise, and understandable. It’s challenging for the tool to analyze long strings of words with lots of different terms and information. It’s better to give instructions in short sentences. For example, the sentence: “I want to learn more about this topic, how it developed, how specialists came to these latest discoveries in technology.” will be much less effective than: “Tell me about the latest innovations in IT.”
Stay Specific.
ChatGPT cannot answer overly general questions, such as “What is our purpose?” Since it is an AI, it has a limited ability to answer such queries. Also, avoid asking questions that can be answered with a yes/no. Otherwise, you are unlikely to get a helpful and in-depth response. Make sure that the meaning of the request advises your topic and scope of research.
Remember the Tone of the Research.
Keep in mind that your requests will be better processed if they are written in a formal and academic fashion. Avoid using slang or jargon, as well as any confusing constructions. Otherwise, the chatbot may misinterpret the purpose of your query, and you will end up with confusing results.
Improve the Request.
Feel free to refine your prompts several times. Adding details to your queries will help you receive more thoughtful and specific answers. Since ChatGPT has an impressive memory, you can ask it to refine the same text several times in supplementary messages. Try to avoid repeating instructions, phrases, and duplicate thoughts.
Practice AI Queries.
The more often you practice with ChatGPT, the better your results will be. With enough time, you will grow to learn which phrases and commands are more understandable to the AI.

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