Five Things to Avoid When Using AI for Writing
(Last updated: 7 March 2025)
Since 2006, Oxbridge Essays has been the UK’s leading paid essay-writing and dissertation service
We have helped 10,000s of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students to maximise their grades in essays, dissertations, model-exam answers, applications and other materials.
If you would like a free chat about your project with one of our UK staff, then please just reach out on one of the methods below.
Not all AI uses are beneficial and without consequences. Universities are cracking down on AI-generated content, and if you misuse AI, you risk serious academic consequences. AI-produced writing is often inaccurate, lacks critical thinking, and is easily detectable by professors and plagiarism detection software. Below, we outline the major risks of AI and what you must avoid to reduce the chances of potential penalties.
1. Never copy AI-generated text
When asked, AI can produce whole paragraphs or even your whole essay. Although this may seem like a convenient solution, copying AI-generated text can get you into trouble. AI possesses a distinctive writing style that often comes across as sophisticated, making it easier for your professors to detect AI use and penalise you for it.
2. Avoid incorporating AI-generated bullet point lists
AI may generate informative bullet point lists in response to your queries, which can help in writing your essay. However, it is important to avoid directly incorporating these bullet points into your essay. Including bullet points may serve as an indicator of AI use. Essays should always be written in paragraph form, using your own words and analytical skills.
3. Avoid using AI-generated text without content improvement
Even if you try to use AI in a more subtle way—such as paraphrasing rather than directly copying—you are still taking a major risk. AI-generated content is shallow, generic, and lacks the deep critical analysis that your professors expect. To demonstrate the applicability of your arguments, you need to enhance the AI-generated content with your own insights and analysis real research, critical engagement, and expert analysis, something AI will never provide.
4. Avoid AI’s American English
AI-generated text is always in American English. If you need your essay in British English, you should avoid directly copying the text generated by AI. If you’ve always written in British English, suddenly switching to American English might raise suspicions among your professors and lead them to think you have used AI.
5. Avoid AI’s short paragraphs
Apart from bullet point lists, superficial content, and American English, another landmark of AI-generated text is a pattern of short paragraphs. When your essay is evaluated by professors, a series of short paragraphs could signal AI use. If your essay is littered with brief, surface-level paragraphs, it will immediately look like AI-generated work
Don’t put your academic success at risk
The main takeaway from this blog is that not all AI use is beneficial or legitimate. The dangers of AI in academic writing cannot be overstated. If you rely on AI, you are likely to produce an essay that is shallow, fragmented, riddled with American spelling, and easily flagged as AI-generated. The risks are too great.