The role of generative AI for academic writing: A risk of disappearance of students skills? A reflection in the French Context

The article argues that generative AI profoundly transforms academic writing and may partially displace students own writing skills, especially in the French university context. It shows that Gen AI tools can handle many linguistic and formal aspects of writing, raising questions about what remains to be learned and assessed on the human side. The article identifies nine elements of the skills needed to produce a master’s-level writing (in the French context), grouped into linguistic skills and academic conventions. It shows how AI tools can fulfil these roles. For more complex tasks, such as structuring arguments or developing a coherent research problem, GenAI help is more uncertain. The article also addresses several issues arising from this potential transfer and concludes that the pedagogical relationship needs to be transformed considering the emergence of the new triangular relationship between teacher, student and AI.