Teacher Discovers: AI-Polished Essays Conceal Learning Gaps, and Curriculum Lags Behind

In an article published in AI & SOCIETY, Abdur Rahman describes a college teacher's observation of how a "too good" writing style can obscure the true understanding of students' abilities. According to Rahman, students' emails and submitted texts suddenly began to display exceptionally fluent, formal English—a tone reminiscent of professional template letters and polished magazine articles.

The author describes the change through everyday details: previously awkward requests and grammatical errors were replaced by polite openings and nearly flawless language. This raised suspicions that the texts were "engineered," or constructed using external tools, such as AI that automatically formats writing.

The turning point comes during exams. According to Rahman, in test situations, the same group of students no longer produces language at the same level. The contrast leads the author to ponder what learning is being assessed if some course performances are written in a manner that does not reflect the student's own abilities.

The core argument of the text is that when essays and messages can be edited to a professional standard almost at the push of a button, teaching and assessment practices must also be re-evaluated. Otherwise, a situation arises where externally polished language conceals what the student truly knows.

Source: All my students have mastered Wren and Martin, AI & SOCIETY.