AI is Not the Hack You Want

Forget about honor codes or rules, AI is not going to help you write a good application essay.

You could try using a typewriter for your application essays. You’re guaranteed originality, at the very least. Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Don’t use AI in your college application essays.

AI is a hack. And not in the computer hacking way. Yes, AI could spit out an essay faster than you could write it. That doesn’t mean it will be any good. AI tools, especially Large Language Models like ChatGPT or Gemini, are not creating anything truly new. They take reams and reams of already written content, put it all together, and find the most commonly expressed way to respond to a prompt. That makes it seem like a “hack” for writing. In theory, this process makes spitting out an essay much faster and easier.

Yet AI programs are only true modern hacks if they produce a good application essay for you. It won’t. Because it’s a really good old-fashioned hack. Traditionally, a hack stand-up comedian is one who did the same bits everyone else did. In vaudeville days (pre-television), this often w…