The single most disruptive technology in the last few years is no longer social media. The sudden popularity of large language models like ChatGPT is rapidly taking over the world — and most sectors aren’t prepared.
Education, most of all.
Students are now using LLMs to cheat their way to getting a high grade. As a result, teachers are banning the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms. But I don’t think that’s the right way of going about it.
Instead, there’s a healthy balance in using AI for assignments. In this article, I’m going to teach you how to write a natural-sounding argumentative essay using AI.
Step #1: Write The Perfect Prompt
The perfect essay starts with the perfect prompt. Yes, it’s easier to just say “Hey, ChatGPT. Can you write an essay about this-and-that?” but there are a couple issues that come with that method.
Number one, it can lead to poorly written essays. Not specifying the topic and talking points would likely cause ChatGPT to repeat several parts of the essay and use lots of transition words. Basically, it’ll generate common AI markers that would lead to easily identifiable machine-generated essays.
The second reason is hallucinations. This is the tendency of LLMs to create fictitious information just to fulfill the prompt. That’s why it’s better to create an outline first before asking ChatGPT to generate the essay. This outline should include the following:
- Main Topic: What’s the argumentative essay about as a whole?
- Tone and Voice: How you want the final output to sound like.
- Crucial Talking Points: Subtopics that should be addressed by the LLM.
- Supporting Information: All information and data that would support your case.
- Conclusion: Argumentative essays should always be opinionated.
- And if applicable, sources.
Step #2: Let LLMs Do The Work
Next, simply pick an LLM. In my opinion, each of the popular LLMs today have different use cases. These are the following:
- ChatGPT: Jack-of-all-trades. The most versatile writing assistant you could ask for, but also the most likely to get flagged as AI by detectors.
- Claude: Creative but strict. It won’t create essays if you’re going to use it for academic dishonesty.
- Gemini: Best LLM for information gathering. It does short-form essays well, but struggles with writing long-form content.
They all have pros-and-cons, so just choose which one best fits your particular scenario. For this tutorial, I’m going to use ChatGPT.
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Hi, ChatGPT. Pretend you’re a student and you’re writing a short argumentative essay. Here’s every information you need to know: – Topic: SHOULD WE LOWER THE VOTING AGE? – Verdict: NO. – Tone: Firm, but slightly playful. Similar to a newspaper column. – Information: 1. Brain development research suggests that the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for decision-making and evaluating long-term consequences, is not fully developed until around age 25. 2. Voting age requirements are set by country or state/province, and in most democracies around the world, the voting age is 18 or older. 3. Historical data shows that voter turnout rates tend to be lower among younger age groups compared to older voters. 4. Political knowledge levels, as measured by responses to factual questions about government and politics, are typically lower among teenagers compared to older adults. 5. There are arguments that younger teenagers may be more susceptible to influence from parents, peers, or social media when it comes to political views and voting decisions. |
When considering whether to lower the voting age, we should lean towards a firm “no.” Here’s why: Firstly, research on brain development shows that the prefrontal cortex, the part responsible for wise decision-making, isn’t fully baked until about 25. Lowering the voting age to, say, 16 could mean immature decisions in the polling booth. Secondly, while most democracies set the voting age at 18 or older, allowing kids to vote could disrupt this sensible norm. Historically, voter turnout is lower among young people—perhaps they’re just not that interested yet! Plus, political knowledge in teens often trails behind their older counterparts. And let’s not forget—they’re more likely to parrot their parents or the latest TikTok trend rather than making independent choices. Keep the voting age as is! |
Always remember that how you prompt matters. You can always use my prompt above as a template or, to learn more, you can check out our article about prompt engineering.
Step #3: Open Undetectable AI
Now, you can submit that essay as is. But any teacher with a properly discerning eye can tell that it’s AI-generated, and detectors could tell too. That’s why I highly recommend using Undetectable AI in this next step.
Undetectable AI is an AI bypasser which works similar to paraphrasing tools, except its only goal is to humanize your content.
Here’s what our essay from the last step looks like once it’s run through Undetectable AI.
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When considering whether to lower the voting age, we should lean towards a firm “no.” Here’s why: Firstly, research on brain development shows that the prefrontal cortex, the part responsible for wise decision-making, isn’t fully baked until about 25. Lowering the voting age to, say, 16 could mean immature decisions in the polling booth. Secondly, while most democracies set the voting age at 18 or older, allowing kids to vote could disrupt this sensible norm. Historically, voter turnout is lower among young people—perhaps they’re just not that interested yet! Plus, political knowledge in teens often trails behind their older counterparts. And let’s not forget—they’re more likely to parrot their parents or the latest TikTok trend rather than making independent choices. Keep the voting age as is! |
I believe that maintaining the voting age is the way to go. Here’s why; Firstly studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for making decisions isn’t fully developed until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 might lead to choices at the ballot box. Secondly most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or older so allowing younger individuals to vote could disrupt this established practice. Historically young people have shown voter turnout—possibly due to a lack of interest at their age! Additionally teenagers tend to have knowledge compared to older individuals. It’s worth noting that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends like those on TikTok, than formulating independent opinions. Lets keep the voting age ! |
Notice anything unusual? Undetectable AI’s output is full of grammar errors. The reason for this is simple: the best way to simulate human writing is to include human mistakes. We should really remove those, that’s why…
Step #4: Use QuillBot
… I recommend using QuillBot in this last step. This AI-powered paraphraser is the quickest way to remove unwanted grammar errors and fix the monotony of Undetectable AI’s output. You can check out our full review of QuillBot later, but in the meantime, let’s look at our final essay once it’s fixed by the tool.
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Undetectable AI + QuillBot |
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I believe that maintaining the voting age is the way to go. Here’s why; Firstly studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for making decisions isn’t fully developed until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 might lead to choices at the ballot box. Secondly most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or older so allowing younger individuals to vote could disrupt this established practice. Historically young people have shown voter turnout—possibly due to a lack of interest at their age! Additionally teenagers tend to have knowledge compared to older individuals. It’s worth noting that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends like those on TikTok, than formulating independent opinions. Lets keep the voting age ! |
I think the best course of action is to keep the voting age as is. The reasons are as follows: First, research on brain development suggests that the prefrontal cortex, which is essential for decision-making, does not fully develop until approximately age 25. Reducing the voting age to 16 may provide voters more options when casting their ballots. Second, since the majority of democracies have established the voting age at 18 or older, permitting younger people to vote may challenge this long-standing custom. Young people have historically participated in politics, maybe because they are too young to be disinterested! In addition, teens typically possess more knowledge than older people. It’s important to note that rather than forming their own perspectives, they are more likely to adopt the opinions of their parents or follow trends like those on TikTok. |
And there you have it. The perfect machine-generated argumentative essay.
Do Output Parameters in Undetectable AI Work?
One thing I glossed over a little bit when talking about Undetectable AI is the output parameters. This allows you to have more control over the final output by choosing a specific use case or readability level. Here are all the options available:
- Purpose or Use Case: General Writing, Essay, Article, Marketing Material, Story, Cover Letter, Report, Business Material, Legal Material
- Readability Level: High School, University, Doctorate, Journalist, Marketing
I’ve always found that leaving these in its default settings (General Writing + University) creates the most balanced essays. But I wonder — will I get better results by switching it up?
So, I put it to the test using the argumentative essay shown above. Let’s first check if there’s a world of difference between the main three readability levels.
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When it comes to the idea of reducing the voting age it seems best to stick with a no.” Here’s why; To begin with studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in making decisions doesn’t fully mature until around the age of 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 could lead to decisions being made at the ballot box. Additionally most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or above so allowing younger individuals to vote might disrupt this established practice. Historically young people tend to have voter turnout—perhaps indicating a lack of interest at that stage in life! Furthermore teenagers often lag behind their counterparts in terms of knowledge. It’s also worth noting that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends like those, on TikTok than making independent decisions. Therefore maintaining the voting age is advisable! |
I believe that maintaining the voting age is the way to go. Here’s why; Firstly studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for making decisions isn’t fully developed until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 might lead to choices at the ballot box. Secondly most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or older so allowing younger individuals to vote could disrupt this established practice. Historically young people have shown voter turnout—possibly due to a lack of interest at their age! Additionally teenagers tend to have knowledge compared to older individuals. It’s worth noting that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends like those on TikTok, than formulating independent opinions. Lets keep the voting age ! |
When it comes to the idea of reducing the voting age my stance leans towards a no.” Here’s why; To begin with studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision making doesn’t fully mature until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 could potentially lead to decisions at the ballot box. Additionally most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or above so allowing younger individuals to vote may disrupt this established practice. Historically young people have shown voter turnout— due to lack of interest at that stage, in life! Furthermore teenagers generally possess knowledge compared to older individuals. It’s important to note that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends rather than forming independent opinions. Therefore maintaining the voting age seems advisable! |
Let’s start with the obvious: changing parameters does nothing in lessening the grammar and punctuation errors. Now, the high school readability sort of helps in creating more of a casual tone, but the language is also a lot more juvenile than its counterparts. In my opinion, this feels more like it’s written by a middle-schooler for one that is supposed to be a high school level essay.
The doctorate readability level is okay, but it does lean more towards using complex words. As I expected, the university level works best for argumentative essays because it’s a good balance between the two.
As for purpose, I’m going to compare “General Writing” and “Essay” because they’re the only two use cases applicable to this article.
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I believe that maintaining the voting age is the way to go. Here’s why; Firstly studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for making decisions isn’t fully developed until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 might lead to choices at the ballot box. Secondly most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or older so allowing younger individuals to vote could disrupt this established practice. Historically young people have shown voter turnout—possibly due to a lack of interest at their age! Additionally teenagers tend to have knowledge compared to older individuals. It’s worth noting that they are more likely to echo their parents views or follow trends like those on TikTok, than formulating independent opinions. Lets keep the voting age ! |
When deciding whether to decrease the voting age it’s best to stick with a no.” Here’s why; To start studies, on brain development indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which handles decision making isn’t fully developed until around age 25. Lowering the voting age to 16 could lead to choices at the ballot box. Additionally most democracies have set the voting age at 18 or older so allowing younger individuals to vote might upset this standard. Historically young people have shown voter turnout—perhaps they’re simply not as engaged yet! Furthermore teens tend to have knowledge compared to older adults. It’s important to remember that they are more likely to mimic their parents or follow trends on platforms, like TikTok than making independent decisions. It’s best to maintain the voting age! |
For this one, I don’t think there’s much difference between the two. However, the latter does seem more purposeful and has fewer mistakes than the former.
So, my verdict is that the best use case and readability level pairing for argumentative essays is “University + Essay.”
When It’s Okay to Use AI in Writing Essays
The use of AI in writing essays is a complex issue that requires careful consideration. While it is tempting since AI can be a powerful tool in the writing process, every student must understand the ethical and academic implications of relying too heavily on it.
Always keep in mind: most educational institutions have strict policies against using AI-generated content. Submitting something written entirely by an LLM would be considered academic dishonesty, which can lead to severe consequences. That said, there are legitimate ways to incorporate AI into your without compromising integrity.
One acceptable use of AI is as a brainstorming tool. LLMs can help generate outlines, topic ideas, and initial drafts that serve as a starting point for your own essay. This can be particularly useful for overcoming writer’s block or exploring new perspectives.
Another potential use of AI is for editing and proofreading purposes. They can help identify grammatical errors, suggest improvements to sentence structure, and even provide feedback on overall coherence and flow. However, it’s crucial to review these suggestions, rather than blindly accepting them, as AI are sometimes prone to hallucinations.
At the end of the day, the responsible use of AI in writing essays is about striking a balance between using it as a tool and maintaining your own authorship. AI should be used judiciously, with a clear understanding of its limitations and the potential risks of overreliance. If used ethically and in moderation, AI becomes the ultimate writing assistant. But it should never be a substitute for your own critical thinking and original expression.
All Said and Done
In this new era of artificial intelligence, the only way forward is to use it responsibly in education.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Undetectable — these are all new, shiny toys that students are eager to play with. But sooner or later, overreliance on LLMs will backfire. It’s best to strike a balance between using them to help you and stopping once they’ve started replacing you as the brain behind your assignments.
Remember: argumentative essays are supposed to gauge your nuance, not an LLM’s.
AI in education isn’t a new thing — and teachers are not happy about it. But don’t take it from me, take it from them in this article. Good luck!
