I Just Used ChatGPT for the First Time

We Do This Every Day - OG Ep. 2 - 2025

Greetings WOL Friends!

In this post, Olivia talks about using AI for her writing for the first time.

Do you think this entry was written with AI or did Olivia do it all by herself - or somewhere in between?

Best,

Pat

I Just Used ChatGPT for the First Time

Olivia Grugan 2/4/2024

Everyone else wrote this blog post back in 2023. It’s the one about how I’ve now tried out ChatGPT myself.

Some of those early posts on AI in education outlined ways to ensure students were not using the chatbots. Others suggested embracing the technology and teaching students how to use it well. Regardless of the approach, all seemed to agree: ChatGPT was a new reality educators have to respond to. One writer called it a “tsunami” that we would be remiss to ignore. Well, I read those blogs. And I (mostly) ignored it.

Why I resist AI

Those who don’t know me well, might be surprised that I am a late adopter when it comes to technology. In fact, sometimes I’m not just a late adopter; I can be an “active resistor” (not an official category). I did, afterall, just switch “back” from an iphone to a flip phone. Yes, in 2025. Maybe that’s a topic for another blog post.

I’d have to do some soul searching to figure out why I run contrary to my demographics (and my chosen path in virtual education) with an instinctual resistance to technological change.

• Some of it is pridefulness: I believe I can do things well enough myself.

• Some of it is upbringing: I was raised in a pretty “crunchy” home.

• Some of it is self-awareness: I am distractible and have an addictive personality. If I start, I might not stop!

• But a big part of it comes from my values: simplicity, authenticity, relationships. I worry new technology will distance me from these.

So as ChatGPT and other AI apps entered our learning spaces, I begrudgingly read about the technology and talked with colleagues, but avoided using the new AI technologies myself.

My First Experience Writing “with” Chat GPT

When I wrote a blog post last week, I decided to see what ChatGPT would do with it. It was really just a whim, a curiosity. I took my entire text (about 650 words) and asked the app to

• shorten it to 500 words

• shorten it to 400 words

• edit it to read more formally

• edit it to read more conversationally

• structure it with sub-headers to read more blog-like

• proofread it: grammar only, no changing of syntax or tone

• shorten it to 50 words (poor ChatGPT!).

Here’s what that last one looked like if you’re curious

The Results

I was playing and, I admit, it was fun. In several seconds, the app was able to edit my writing as requested, without ever losing the key ideas or even my own tone. And the edits were good. Very good. Here’s an example from the beginning of the post:

My writing: In college I became enamored with the idea of having certain things that you re-read regularly, a kind of literary ritual. These would be texts that you identified as so powerful or fundamental that they warranted re-reading throughout life.

Edit: In college, I embraced the idea of re-reading certain powerful texts regularly as a kind of literary ritual.

The edit is not only shorter; it is better. The ideas are delivered with more clarity and grace.

As I “communicated” back and forth with the artificial intelligence, I sensed a set of improvised guardrails rising. For me, those were:

• I didn’t ask it to write anything “new”; instead, I shared my writing and asked it for specific edits

• When it made the edits, I read what it wrote and then returned to my own writing without the app open in front of me.

• I did not copy and paste anything.

I felt that I was in conversation with an editor, and a very good one at that, who (whom?) I was learning from. As I looked at the edits and suggestions, it began to shape my own understanding about condensed, blog-form writing. I became a better writer.

What about those values?

So did I lose my compass? What happened to those values of simplicity, authenticity and relationship? Let’s take them one at a time:

1. Simplicity: Arguably this was a simpler process than reaching out to a colleague. I was able to do it more efficiently and without interrupting anyone else.

2. Authenticity: My self-imposed guardrails allowed me to maintain what felt like full “authorship” of the writing.

3. Relationships: I took a loss here. Though more tedious, a conversation with a colleague would have likely included some sharing of our personal lives and those “Social Emotional” check-ins we all crave.

What’s next?

So will I keep using ChatGPT to edit my writing? Do you think I used it to write this?

I believe in the power of play, driven by curiosity. I need to take time to play with this: writing with it sometimes, and without it other times; asking it to perform a variety of tasks and considering the results carefully; pushing the limits and then pulling back from them. I am indebted to those early adopters who used it for everything from party planning to homework skirting and helped forge some guidance for its use.

But we educators need to keep playing. As we do so, I’d like to lift up another value I think many of us share: transparency. As we collectively establish the norms that will govern our use of AI in education, let’s continue to be open with each other about how we are using it. For those enthusiastic adopters, let’s be willing to admit when we feel we’ve overstepped, and for those, like me, who are traditionally hesitant, let’s be willing to take calculated risks. As always, let’s keep our eyes fixed on what is best for our students and what moves us towards a kinder, more just community of learners.

Is this post written by Olivia with Assist From AI??

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