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There has been extensive discussion of AI and academic writing, but Black Studies Professor Emily Raboteau notes that there is relatively little discussion of AI and creative writing pedagogy in higher ed.
How are our students currently using AI to create, support, or enhance their creative writing assignments? At what point in the process of writing and revision might AI tools be beneficial? How might improving our own AI literacy as faculty help us to become better writing teachers? How is AI affecting our students’ career paths and plans? What are the costs and benefits of AI use to creativity, originality, plot, and voice among emerging creative writers? How might assignments be crafted to promote its responsible use? What policy provisions are being made vis-à-vis academic integrity at our university and at other universities?
These are just a handful of the questions Professor Raboteau is asking in her latest project, “The Ethics of AI in the Creative Writing Classroom,” for which she received a competitive $25,000 AI Innovation Award from CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs. “The genie is out of the bottle,” says Raboteau. “It’s clear to me that my students are using AI both to write and to critique each other’s writing in creative writing workshops. We need to catch up and course correct through engagement rather than straight-up disapproval.” The project will be undertaken this summer in collaboration with English Professor Briallen Hopper of Queens College as co-PI.
Both professors of creative writing, Raboteau and Hopper have been individually reconsidering their pedagogy given the widespread use of AI by students. But to address the lack of broad research and discussion about AI in creative writing, the professors plan to work together to build on and deepen existing conversations on AI in college writing.
With the grant, Professors Raboteau and Hopper will address the problems of AI for creative writing, including copyright infringement and environmental waste, while exploring opportunities for its innovative potential. They will undertake three main categories of work: research, implementation, and data-based faculty support. In the research phase, they will study the evolving landscape of AI in college creative writing and what it means for students, teachers, and learning outcomes. In implementation, they will redesign two Creative Writing workshops for Fall 2026 to intentionally teach AI literacy within the discipline, supported by clear ethical guidelines and course policies. Finally, they will develop student surveys to learn how many students are using AI and how they are using it, sharing results widely alongside teaching best practices informed by their findings in a joint paper.
Professor Raboteau and Professor Hopper’s goal is to equip CUNY students to grow creatively and professionally in a rapidly evolving world while continuing to encourage critical thinking, originality, and ethics.
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