THE PROMISE AND PERILS OF AI-POWERED WRITING TOOLS EVALUATING THE PROS AND CONS IN SCHOOL-LEVEL LANGUAGE LEARNING

Abstract

The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has created new opportunities and challenges for language learning, particularly at school. This study examines the pros and cons of AI-powered writing tools such as ChatGPT and Grammarly. Espacially their influence on students' writing skills, creativity, and engagement. A quantitative case study was conducted on a sample of 100 students (50 boys and 50 girls) of government and private schools of Okara with pre-test and post-test questionnaires to determine changes in awareness, knowledge, and use of AI tools. An outstanding improvement in the knowledge of students about AI was seen as awareness level improved from 73% to 93% following intervention. Awareness of some of the writing supportive software also went up quite a long way, with utilization growing from 20% to 59%. Functional gains such as improved grammar correction, vocabulary enhancement, and assisting in novel ideas in writing was described by students. All these show that AI support can aid in decreasing technical errors, brainstorming, and confidence building in writing. Stringent limitations were also found by the study.Copying AI-written responses without verification was reported by students, and that is concerning in terms of plagiarism, dependency, and reduced critical thinking. AI-written material could not be fully read by a considerable proportion, which may restrict later learning success. In general, the findings indicate that AI-powered writing assistance has the potential to promote teaching and learning and should be used after assistance provided by mentors, that they should be implemented with close teacher monitoring, computer literacy training, and ethics awareness. Such synchronization will ensure that AI technologies are utilized as facilitators' tools for student learning and not alternatives for individual effort and creativity.