A lot of ink has been spilled on concerns over the growing student use of AI, and how this is impacting their education. Indeed, we have written some articles on this subject ourselves, pointing to potential shortfalls, and how AI can negatively impact your chances of college admission. But students aren’t the only ones making use of this new technology, not by a long shot. Teachers are also grappling with this technology, both in terms of how students are using it, and how it impacts their workflow. This is quickly creating concerns among students, who don’t want their work graded by an AI, and who certainly don’t want letters of recommendation written by one. But is this a real concern, or just idle speculation? In this article we’re going to dig into that, and see what you can do about it. Let’s jump right in!
Are Teachers Using AI for Rec Letters?
Probably not yet for the most part.
That’s not a very satisfying answer at all, so let’s unpack what we mean by it. First, generative AI, especially text based, is a relatively recent phenomenon. Only in the past year or so have these tools become powerful enough to even have the use of AI to write a rec letter for you seem like a viable option. Thus, it is unlikely any teachers were availing themselves of this previously; if this is a problem, it is going to be a new one.
Next, most teachers choose to do the job because they are passionate about helping students. This isn’t universally true, and the field does have a problem with burnout, but most teachers are there because they want to be. In general, this does lessen (but not eliminate) the chance they will cut corners with AI, especially if they know it will hurt a student’s chances of admission.
That said, teachers are not a monolith. Each has their own goals and desires, and each has their own view on this emerging technology. Many are annoyed by it, especially the prevalence of its use amongst students, but others are early adopters, trying to use it in their own work flows. That doesn’t mean they will necessarily use AI to write recommendation letters, but not all teachers will reject the idea out of hand, especially as the use of AI becomes more common.
Does AI Make Worse Rec Letters?
So some teachers may start looking into AI to write letters of recommendation. The question then is, will that make for worse rec letters? Yes, kind of.
You see, as we explained in a previous article on letters of recommendation, there is already a significant distinction between good and bad rec letters. To sum up here, a good rec letter is highly personal, and shows how well the teacher knows the student, vouching for their character and intellectual caliber. A poor rec letter is brief, generic, and could be written about anyone, with little specific to the student to speak to how they will be in college.
With this in mind, the problem with AI generated letters of recommendation becomes obvious. They may have more words and more flowery turns of phrase than the average form letter, but will have the same lack of punch, the same failure to say anything meaningful about who a student is and what they’ve done. After all, the AI doesn’t really know you, and so anything it writes will either be vague, or invented from whole cloth.
AI is also generally worse as a writer than most teachers, but this is a secondary problem. Nobody reads a letter of recommendation for its literary merits. The point of the letters is to give colleges insights they desperately need about who you are in the classroom, your ability and potential as a student. A letter written by AI is simply incapable of doing that.
Should You Worry About AI Rec Letters?
So these are a problem if they show up, but how worried should you really be about teachers using AI to write rec letters? Probably not too much, at least not yet.
As we stated previously, most teachers don’t like AI very much, and it is still a relatively new technology. While some teachers are currently experimenting with it, most are sticking to tried and true methods, for curriculums, grading, and writing letters of recommendation. Schools are slow to change in a lot of things, and so while there may be a slight uptick in the use of AI by teachers, we do not expect it to become anything near endemic anytime soon.
The caliber of writing of these letters is bad, but nothing worse than you would already find in a form letter. Thus AI rec letters are simply a new iteration of an already common problem students face: getting a good rec letter from their teachers. While this is a challenge, it is far from an insurmountable one.
Finally, this may be a problem which increases in the future, especially as the use of AI becomes more engrained. Ask yourself: if you were asked by someone to write a rec letter, would you use AI to help you in doing so? And we do mean at all, from outlining the points to cleaning up the grammar afterwards. There’s no shame in doing so, but this is an important thing to consider; if you reach for these tools so quickly yourself, should you be surprised when others do the same?
Making Sure You Don’t Get AI Rec Letters
Now, there is no way to know or check whether or not a teacher or anyone else uses AI when writing your letters of recommendation. As we explain in a previous article, these letters are confidential, and teachers expect you to waive your right to read them when you ask them for letters. Thus whether or not a letter is good or bad, penned from the heart or prompted without care, you have no way of checking or verifying.
That said, there are a significant number of things you can do to decrease the chances of your teachers using AI to write your letters of recommendation, and instead supply you with great ones, the kind top colleges love to see. Here are our top tips for doing so.
Ask for Letters of Recommendation Early
One of the big selling points of AI is speed, and the convenience that comes from that. Instead of spending hours planning and writing something, you can instead put a few lines into a box and get something out that’s good enough, even if it isn’t great. This is part of why it’s so popular for students cramming to finish essays, and something that might draw teachers to it as well.
After all, if thirty students ask for rec letters a week before the deadline arrives, how do you expect teachers to handle it? Teachers are people too, with lives and responsibilities and hundreds of students to worry about. Previously, they might just turn down students who asked for a letter too close to the deadline, but now they might turn instead to AI.
Thus, when you go to request your own letters, do so as early as you can. Ideally, you want to be asking teachers in your first week of senior year, giving them plenty of notice and time. This way they won’t have to rush and hurry, and won’t already have dozens of other requests to deal with. The more you respect your teacher’s time and effort, the more they will respect you in turn.
Get to Know Your Teachers
A major reason for form letters in the first place is that teachers don’t really have anything to say about their students. Teachers have hundreds of students each year, and while they will know all their names and something about them, if you never talk in class, or speak to your teacher outside it, what do you expect them to say about you in a rec letter?
This lack of familiarity leads to form letters, but may increasingly lead to AI use, where teachers put in the scant details they do have and hope for the best. If instead you get to know your teachers, and build a relationship with them naturally, not only will they have more to say, they will be much more willing to put out the effort needed to say it.
Limit Your Own AI Usage
Many students are using AI in doing their work, and teachers know this. There are many discussions and complaints about how to handle this, but even if you think your teachers don’t notice, they most likely do. They may be letting it slide, but it will still change their perception and evaluation of you.
This is important in two ways. First, it will decrease your chances of getting a great letter overall; for how can your teacher talk about your work if what you are giving to them isn’t really yours? Teachers will never say bad things about a student in a rec letter, but this may greatly limit how they praise you, and to what extent they discuss your strengths as a student.
Second, if you turn in AI work to them, they may feel like it’s fair to turn in AI work on your behalf. Whether or not this is fair, you can see the logic behind it. You can hardly reasonably fault someone for doing something you yourself have done. You may not appreciate this, and it is indeed a different situation, but the train of logic is clear. If you want a teacher to show full effort where you are concerned, you should show them the same courtesy.
Final Thoughts
AI is an increasingly powerful tool, one which is infiltrating ever more facets of education and daily life more broadly. Where it will end is uncertain, as the future always is, but we can make predictions based on what we have seen so far. We hope that this article has given you a good sense of where the landscape currently sits in terms of the use of AI in recommendation letters, and what you can do about it.
While recommendation letters are a key part of a college application, they are just one part amongst many. If you are looking for advice on securing the best possible rec letters for you, or on any other aspect of your college application, then Ivy Scholars can help. Our mentors have a deep experience with every aspect of the admissions process. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more about how we can help you; we’re always happy to hear from you.
