UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF AI-GENERATED WRITING AND ITS IMPACT ON ACADEMIC WRITING INSTRUCTION

Abstract

This study aims to explore university teachers’ perceptions of AI-generated writing and its impact on academic writing instruction in Pakistani higher education. The key aims are to investigate the perceptions of teachers regarding the use of AI, determine the perceived advantages and disadvantages of its use, and discuss the impact that these perceptions have on the practices of teaching, feedback, and assessment. The research design embraced in the study is a qualitative research design and within an interpretivist paradigm. The sample is comprised of university teachers, who teach courses related to writing, such as academic writing, English, and communication. The information rich participants of the study with pertinent experience and awareness of AI tools were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The sample size was between 12 and 20 respondents, and this was due to data saturation. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, which was flexible and deep. The data obtained were analysed through thematic analysis to find the recurring patterns, meanings and themes. The theoretical perspective of the research is based on interpretivist, which underlines subjective knowledge and social construction of realities. The significant conclusions include that teachers have ambivalent and conditional attitudes to AI-generated writing. They acknowledge its applicability in generating ideas, language support, and writing support, in particular, to ESL learners. Yet, they also raise serious concerns with academic honesty, over reliance, ambiguity in authorship, student voice loss, and critical thinking. The results also suggest that there has been a change in pedagogy with teachers engaging in process-based instruction, reflective feedback, and redesigned assessment practices to guarantee authenticity and transparency. The research has significant pedagogical, policy and practice implications. It highlights the need for clear institutional guidelines, AI literacy, and professional development for teachers. It further proposes the incorporation of AI as an aiding tool and not a alternative to human thought in the teaching of academic writing.