Does Writing with ChatGPT Lower Language Skills? A Practitioner's Perspective

As the end of summer vacation draws near, the book report sheet is often the last thing left on the desk. That scene has never changed.

What has changed is the option now sitting next to it: "have ChatGPT write it."

In Japan's fiscal 2024 National Assessment of Academic Ability, third-year junior high school students averaged 58.4% correct on the Japanese language section, well below the previous year's 70.1% — though the questions change every year, so a simple comparison is not possible. Meanwhile, a 2025 survey by Nifty Kids reported that 50.7% of elementary school students had used ChatGPT, and 36.6% had used some form of AI for study or homework. When these two figures appear side by side, the temptation is to conclude that "AI is degrading language ability." The causal relationship, however, is not that straightforward.

"Complete Delegation" vs. "Scaffolding": Two Opposite Outcomes

ChatGPT's effect on language skills works in opposite directions depending entirely on how it is used. Typing "write an essay for me" and submitting the output unchanged eliminates every opportunity to think and practice expression. In this mode, harm to language development is unavoidable. Contrast that with uses such as "critique the structure of the essay I just wrote" or "check whether the subject and predicate of this sentence connect properly." These approaches give students a chance to revisit their own writing with an outside perspective — the same function traditionally served by teacher feedback and editing instruction.

The Paradox: You Need Strong Language Skills to Get Good AI Output

Here lies an often-overlooked paradox: getting high-quality writing from AI requires the reading comprehension and vocabulary to recognize what high-quality writing actually is. A child capable of looking at AI output and saying "this phrasing is unclear" or "the argument in this paragraph drifts off-topic" is exercising exactly the skills that transfer to writing without AI. Conversely, a child who delegates to AI before developing the ability to evaluate AI output loses the feedback loop that would allow them to improve.

What Actually Works in Writing Instruction

In practice, educators are increasingly deploying AI not as a writing substitute but as an interactive revision tool. The sequence works as follows: the child writes a first draft independently; they share the draft with AI and receive suggestions for improvement; they then decide which suggestions to accept and finalize the piece themselves. This process repeats the cycle of writing, receiving critique, and making judgments — a deeper learning loop than the traditional "write once and hand in" model. Kodansha's parenting media "Cocreco" has also published specific examples of parent-child AI dialogues in which ChatGPT is treated as a "skilled writing teacher."

What's Needed Is Not a Ban, but Education in Discernment

Telling children "do not use ChatGPT" has no practical effect when they are already using AI as a daily tool. What is needed is the educational capacity to choose — to know what to hand to AI and what to keep for yourself. Drawing one line — "the stage where I put my own thoughts into words is not one I give to AI" — is the starting point for combining language development with AI capability.

At Digital Kodomo BASE in Ota Ward, Tokyo, we offer free programs where children use computers and AI tools directly, building this sense of "discernment" through hands-on experience.