Using ChatGPT to Tell Me About Academic Burnout

Words by Aimee Norrie (she/her)

In my first year at university, I wrote essays the day they were due. 

Six or so hours before the midnight deadline, I’d sit down at my tiny dorm room desk and get that shit done. The words would pour out of my brain straight onto the page as if I’d written them a hundred times before. It felt good, like I was scratching my brain right in the place I itched to write.

These days, the kids are using ChatGPT to write their last-minute essays. I don’t mean to dog on ChatGPT, but generating a copy-paste essay feels like getting a ride to the finish line halfway through the race. It doesn’t satiate the monster that hungers for academic validation from a stellar last-minute, Red Bull-fuelled essay. I can’t deny that ChatGPT is useful for research and fleshing out ideas, but using it to write an essay, let alone an article? You wouldn’t catch me dead.

Which is exactly why I decided to try. I wanted to know: if I asked it to write a piece on academic burnout, what would it generate? Could ChatGPT write me an article fit for Salient? Surely ChatGPT, the last-minute student’s new AI darling, could give me a fresh perspective on academic burnout. 

And so ChatGPT’s glorious article begins. “In the fast-paced and competitive world of academia, the pursuit of knowledge and success can sometimes come at a heavy cost.” I’m  hooked. What a gripping, emotionally driven opening line. Who would believe a computer wrote this? Certainly not me. I would absolutely love to hear more about this “fast-paced and competitive world of academia”. As I’m not a Law student, I couldn’t possibly know what competing to be the best feels like. In my BA classes, most of my peers are happy to exchange notes and swap essays for editing and feedback. Who would’ve thought that ChatGPT has trained itself to think like a competitive Property Law bro?

Let’s continue,“Academic burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced personal accomplishment, has become a prevalent issue...” Immediate yawn. I’m failing to see how this bot is ever going to give me the same high I get when I come up with a witty, A-grade worthy line at 11 p.m. ChatGPT, you’ve let me down. Your robotic eloquence will never replicate the feeling of a sudden stroke of genius.

For me, burnout strikes when the Trimester has passed in the blink of an eye. Winter doesn’t help—can you believe we’re already more than halfway through the year? We’ve been stuck in this endless cycle of uni work for eight months now. What’s the point of going to class when it’s cold anyway? I'll catch up next week. When I’m finally back on top of things, suddenly I have ten assignments due in two days. By the time we reach week 12, all that’s left of me are the ashes of my academic career.

Sometimes I wonder if I peaked too early... Not in a, ‘peaked in high school’ way, but in a ‘I’ve used up all of my brain cells’ sort of way. I used to write NCEA essays like it was  nothing. I’d sit in the exam hall with only the rhythm of a hundred scratching pens to soothe my tense shoulders and cramping hand, somehow writing the best damn essay of my life. Now I find myself sitting in front of my keyboard drawing blanks. Maybe I’m starting to get the ChatGPT thing.

An idea sparks up in my mind. What if I get ChatGPT to rewrite the article, but this time from the perspective of a burnt out student? Surely it could put its hoarded user data to use and place itself in my shoes. With a fading hope that ChatGPT could capture the essence of a struggling student whose brain feels like it’s going to explode, I watched it type. “In the relentless journey of academia, where the pursuit of knowledge reigns supreme, one cannot underestimate the toll it takes on the well-being of students.” Oh, so academia is a RPG quest now? I suppose, if we’re talking about when my lecturers don’t upload their lecture slides to Nuku in the right folder.

This opening is exactly the same as last time, just with “as a burnt out student”, attached in front, assuming that adds an ounce of credibility. It’s put on its pretentious Philosophy major hat, repeating the same smart-sounding words, with absolutely no pizzazz. Like when you search through a thesaurus for ‘superfluous’ words to sound ‘astute’. It’s giving teacher’s pet, or should I say bot. 

Let’s switch things up a bit and ask ChatGPT to write something more personal. Maybe the bot found my last prompt too restrictive, maybe it needs to let loose and use its own voice for a change.

“As I sit here, pen in hand, reflecting upon my journey through the treacherous terrain of academic burnout, I am reminded of the fire that once consumed my passion for learning.” 

Okay, I’m loving the switch to first person. But c’mon ChatGPT, give me some substance! You’re just repeating yourself. I need you to truly believe you’re a burnt out student. A Year 9 student could write a more interesting personal essay. ChatGPT needs to stop striving for perfection and realise grammar errors add flavour. Remember when every teacher told us to use Grammarly to improve our writing, but its form of helping was to add a billion unnecessary commas? At least Grammarly is somewhat human in that sense.

The problem with ChatGPT is that it can’t give me a useful article on academic burnout because it’s never been academically burnt out. Its perfectionism is definitely screaming workaholic, but it’s never had to pull an all-nighter to study for an exam. It’s never gotten the due date wrong and rushed an essay, only to realise the deadline was still a week away. To double check that the bot wasn’t an overloaded student with a side hustle at GPT Inc, I asked, “Have you ever been to university?” “As an AI language model, I don't possess personal experiences, including attending university” —blah blah blah, you get it.

I don’t necessarily hate AI. It can be useful. But we shouldn’t get it to write for us. It’s kind of weird to think that some people use ChatGPT to write emails and cover letters for them, like they shouldn’t already be basic skills. AI can’t write as you; it doesn’t have your personal experiences or your voice. It doesn’t understand the nuances of your brain that make you  ^you. 

And that’s okay. 

At the end of the day, all you need to write a banging essay is a good amount of procrastination-induced anxiety and a suitable energy drink.