Why Write When You Can Chat?

By Peyton Macejewski

'm sure most college students are aware of the increasing use of ChatGPT on schoolwork, especially on essays. However, we at the Speer Writing Center believe that there are invaluable benefits of writing that should not be replaced by computer-generated content—a shocking stance for people who get paid to be passionate about writing, I know.

Below, you’ll find three reasons why I think we should do our own writing.

Writing improves communication

Writers must consider their audience, organize their thoughts, and articulate their message in a way that makes sense to others. Therefore, the writing process teaches focus on others and prepares people to interact with each other in productive ways. Whether someone is trying to make plans with friends, delivering a pitch at a business meeting, or attempting to convince their parents to let them go on that trip over spring break, they need the ability to communicate effectively.
Writing improves knowledge and memory recall

Writing is the true test of whether students know something because it requires them to send the information through multiple parts of their brain, form an opinion or main idea about the information, analyze it to determine what is necessary and helpful, organize it, and express it understandably.

Think about it—if someone can’t explain a topic, does he or she really know it? If people can’t use their own words to summarize a paragraph or form an argument, then are those thoughts really in their head, or are they letting someone else think for them? And aren’t most college students seeking to escape having someone else tell them what to think?

Furthermore, this ability to think is important for life outside of writing essays. We are constantly inundated with information, and practicing the ability to know and process information through writing will help us get better at doing so even with information we receive from the news and social media. Writing things down also increases a person’s ability to remember those things, which is another reason why writing is important for processing information.
Writing is a reflection of God’s work in us and the world

God brought creation into existence through the medium of words, and when we write, we are exercising that creative power in a way that reflects God’s nature to all of creation. Through the written word, we are able to create emotions, ideas, motivations, thoughts, and arguments that were not there before. Writing creates change, and anyone who has lived in this world long enough to recognize its darkness knows that change is something creation is desperate for.

This idea of bringing things into being summarizes all the reasons why writing is good. Although most people are tempted to find an easy way out of work, most recently through ChatGPT, they are also seeking purpose and meaning in life. I think that meaning can be found when we grind through the swirling thoughts, writer’s block, boredom, and struggle for words to follow in God’s footsteps of using words to create, as well as to communicate and learn. In doing so, we just might realize that writing is worth the work.