One of the most significant decisions when applying for college is deciding which one of your favorite teachers you will ask to write an honest, heartfelt letter of recommendation for you. But imagine the first thing they do is pull up ChatGPT and insert the prompt, “Write a letter of recommendation.”
Over the past few years, some teachers have used AI to help write letters of recommendation for students.
In a 2024 study by foundry10, an education research organization, “About a third of high school teachers have used artificial intelligence tools to help with a time-consuming task.”
One such task is writing college applications, which increases teachers’ workloads on top of their busy schedules. Teachers want to spend sufficient time on the letters for their students, but the time it takes conflicts with their already loaded teaching schedule and other duties they might have.
Nearly forty percent of teachers who responded to an Education Week LinkedIn survey in 2022 said each year, they write more than 10 letters of recommendation. And 10 percent said they write more than 30. This leads many teachers to turn to AI to help reduce the time and stress of writing so many letters.
This seems a bit hypocritical, with teachers always telling their students not to use AI in their essays when they’re using it to write letters of recommendation. Why can teachers use AI if students aren’t allowed to?
In an interview with teachers, Jennifer Rubin, a lead researcher at the foundry10, said they found key differences in the roles of the students compared to teachers. Teachers already possess the skills to write well and are fulfilling a job duty, while students are still in the process of learning how to write cogently and demonstrating those skills. So, since students are still learning these skills, they need to practice them by writing essays. On the other hand, since teachers already possess these skills, they don’t need to practice them.
“Teachers aren’t necessarily learning new skills in the same way that students are learning skills,” Rubin says.
Teachers using AI to write recommendation letters isn’t necessarily bad. As a matter of fact, it could be beneficial. According to the study by foundry10, about a third of the 130 teachers surveyed said they believed AI tools improved the quality of their letters. Adding AI in the letters might make the recommendation letter more appealing to colleges.
While not all teachers use AI to write their letters, some worry that it will make the letter less personal. They are also worried about the potential ethics of using AI.
Most of all, the extent to which the AI is used in the letters must be considered. Are they using it to write the entire letter or to touch it up?
Teachers can justify using AI if it creates positive consequences for the students, such as touching up an already written letter or helping them.
However, the idea of a recommendation letter is for the teacher to write something personal, which AI cannot replicate.
