Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has fundamentally disrupted one of higher education’s most enduring pedagogical tools: the essay. For centuries, the essay has served as both a means of learning and a method of assessment, asking students to demonstrate research skills, critical thinking, argument construction, and disciplinary knowledge through extended written work. The arrival of tools like Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini has created what many perceive as an existential crisis for the essay. If students can generate coherent, well-structured essays in seconds, what future does this assessment form have?
This guide provides practical strategies for educators to audit, redesign, and implement essay assessments that remain valid, equitable, and pedagogically robust in an AI-abundant environment. Drawing on recent scholarship, institutional guidance from Australian universities, and frameworks such as the AI Assessment Scale (AIAS), the guide presents four actionable topics that support a coherent thesis: essays must evolve from products to processes, centring human judgment, disciplinary thinking, and authentic intellectual insight while integrating AI transparently.