As the Spring Semester 2025 gathers momentum, university students will scramble to find ways to do their essays and coursework efficiently. Of course, they have the option to do the essays themselves. However, as everyone knows, this is the least efficient way to write academic essays. After all, do you really want to put in hours of effort to produce an essay that hardly five people will ever read. Wouldn’t you want to spend this time in learning something useful or upskilling yourself instead so that you can stand out from your peers?

This leaves students with two realistic options: Hire a professional writer OR Use artificial intelligence (AI) to do your essays.

Hiring a professional writer has long been the go-to method for most students looking to balance their academics and work life. However, the rise of generative AI websites like ChatGPT or DeepSeek have given many budget conscious students an appealing alternative. According to a Harvard Study, more than half (51%) of college students have already used generative AI to do their essays or coursework at some time. However, as AI use has become prevalent, many universities have started adopting a tougher stance against AI generated essays so that students can refocus on learning. In most US colleges, sanctions against AI generated essays include a D grade or a possible expulsion from the university. 

Despite the consequences, many students like the idea that an AI software can do their mundane tasks like writing an essay within a few minutes with a few simple prompts. So keeping the ramification of submitting an AI generated essay aside, we wanted to test if it is really as simple to do an essay using AI tools as it is made out to be? Let us find out. 

In this blog, we will compare essays written by professional writers with those written by AI tools on five parameters: 1) Grades, 2) Originality, 3) Difficult Tasks, 4) Cost, and 5) Time Required. These parameters have been chosen as they are relevant to students who want to maintain a decent grade, while keeping the costs of doing essays to a minimum. 

How we conducted this study? 

To provide a comprehensive and unbiased comparison between human written essays and AI-generated essays, we leveraged our 15 years of experience in academic writing and collaborated with relevant experts in the field. We adopted a 360-degree approach as we gathering insights from university professors, professional academic writers, and students to assess how AI tools perform against traditional human-written essays in real-world academic settings. As part of our research, we:

  • Consulted professors from different US universities: We reached out to over 100 professors across US universities with a brief survey link and received 31 responses. 
  • Collected student feedback: We surveyed over 200 of our existing student clients who have experimented with both AI-generated essays and human-written essays on their feedback. We also asked them about the parameters that they would like to be included in this study. 
  • Engaged with professional writers: We asked professional academic writers for their feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of both AI-generated and human-written essays. 
  • Tested popular AI writing tools: We tested popular generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek and humanizer tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, and Hix to write essays on different topics

This research lasted almost 20 days between January 5, 2025 to January 25, 2025 and here are our findings: 

Grades

It is not surprising that ‘grades’ are the most important criterion for students when they compare human writers and AI tools to do my essay. More than 71% students rated grade as “very important” factor in their decision while only 11% students rated that they were not concerned about the grades as long as they passed. Many students need to keep their grades up to satisfy their scholarship requirements, personal ambitions or simply boost their chances of better opportunities (higher studies or jobs) in the future. 

AI essays: AI tools typically produce grammatically correct and well-structured essays. However, as Prof. Edgerton from UCLA pointed out “these essays lack in critical thinking or originality, which is where most marks are scored.” AI written content is typically generic and will often regurgitate the same points throughout the essay. They do not have enough facts or figures to support the claims they make. Most importantly, the references they cite are usually fake or non-existent. 

Most professors in our study agreed that an AI-generated essay might score a lowly B on an easy topic like a Discussion Post. However, if it is a complex essay that requires critical thinking and creativity, it will score a C or even an F depending upon the topic. 

Typical grade scored by AI essays: B to C (easy topic), C- to F (complex topic)

Human essays: Essays written by professional writers do better than AI essays on most topics and the difference is more pronounced in complex topics like Finance, Economics, or Accounting that required advanced reasoning and critical thinking. Human writers are typically better at constructing strong arguments, using proper citations, and adapting to different writing styles. Their essays might have some limitations like grammatical inconsistencies or less than ideal structure, but these are to be expected when you are grading a college level student. Prof. Wren from Ashworth College points out “We do not expect the perfectly written essays from students, but we do expect some application of the concepts learned in classroom.” This is where human essays written by even an average writer will outscore an AI generated essay. 

Our professors felt that human written essays will likely score between A+ to B+ on most topics. Even if the topic is complex, they can still scrape through with a pass grade. 

Typical grade scored by human essays: A+ to B+ (easy topics), B+ to C+ (complex topics) 

Verdict: Human Essays: 1; AI essays: 0

Originality

Another criteria that matters to students is the originality of content. More than 25% of universities in the US have already banned AI-generated essays. There are also reports that OpenAI and Google will themselves provide tools to the universities to help them detect AI-generated content in student essays. More than 60% of students in our survey cited ‘originality’ of their essays as an important factor in their decision making. 

AI essays: If you are thinking about simply copy-pasting the content generated by ChatGPT or Gemini for your submission, you are in for a huge surprise. Even if your university does not use Turnitin or similar software to detect AI, it is not difficult for professors to identify AI generated content.

As Prof. Jones from University of Texas points out, “The moment I see a student essay, I know whether it is AI generated or not. I do not need Turnitin or any AI detection software for that. I will usually let it go if it is evident that the student has shown evidence of integrating own research and ideas to supplement AI content and put in effort to paraphrase the AI content. However, if the student has simply been lazy and not shown any effort whatsoever, I will give it a D or F grade and report the student for academic misconduct.” 

Fun fact: Turnitin will flag AI generated content 100% of the time. Even if you use tools like Hix or Jenny AI that claim to be ‘undetectable’, you are still likely to be caught more than 75% of the time. 

Read more to find out why even AI humanizers cannot escape Turnitin in 2025

Human essays: Professional writers know the importance of originality. They will ensure ensure that each paper is 100% unique and backed by real sources. They will cite their references properly and produce well-structured arguments to minimize the risk of plagiarism. There is no debate that a human written essay will beat AI generated essays on originality and bypassing Turnitin. So, human written essays are a clear winner here. 

Verdict: Human Essays: 2; AI essays: 0

Difficult Tasks

Another factor that matters to students when deciding between AI-essays or human-written is their ability to handle difficult tasks. 

Easy tasks: These are essays that are simple, structured, and require minimal critical thinking. Some examples are: 

  1. Define globalization and explain its impact on the world economy.
  2. Summarize the key themes in George Orwell’s 1984.
  3. Describe the major causes of climate change.

Difficult tasks: These tasks usually require deep critical thinking, technical skills, originality, research, or reference to personal experiences. Some examples are: 

  1. Analyze XYZ corporation’s current market strategy and its effectiveness in the Chinese market: This essay requires current original research and interpretation of data from various sources, which AI tools cannot handle. 
  2. Finance task that requires application of different Finance concepts and calculations: AI tools cannot handle complex calculations and will end up producing incorrect results/outputs. 
  3. Complete a thesis or a dissertation on a given topic: AI tools are inept at handling longer essays or thesis that run over thousands of words as they cannot produce original research. 

AI essays: While AI tools might do well on shorter, simpler tasks (usually less than 1000 words), they fail miserably on more complex topics that require original research or in-depth analysis. Prof. Lin from SUSS, Singapore comments “When I set tasks for my students, I ensure that they will have to carry out original research, which they cannot easily outsource to AI tools. For example, my task will involve developing a PR plan for a small restaurant located in Singapore, which will require significant original research and contextual understanding.” If you are doing a course in complex subjects like Law, Statistics, Marketing, Accounting, etc., AI generated essays are unlikely to cut it. 

Human essays: Human writers can adapt to complex topics requiring intensive research or interpretation. They can also adapt their writing style to cater to specific instructions, which makes them ideal for handling difficult assignments. Their content is less likely to be generic or robotic, which make them ideal for creative tasks too. 

Verdict: Human Essays: 3; AI essays: 0

Cost

In our study, more than 50% of the students mentioned cost as an important factor when deciding between using AI or hiring a professional writer to do my essay. While AI might possess a cost advantage over professional human writers, the difference is not that significant considering other factors. 

AI essays: If you have a simple topic like a Discussion post or a descriptive essay, you can use the free version of ChatGPT or similar AI software. However, if you have a slightly more complex topic, for example, carrying out a literature review of 15 articles, you will need to purchase ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20/month, as it gives you access to its advanced reasoning tools like o1. Moreover, if your university checks for AI, you will need to paraphrase the essay or hire a writer to rewrite your content. 

Assuming a typical 2000-word essay, you will likely spend $20 + 4-5 hours of your time. Even if we assume $30-$40 as implicit cost of paraphrasing, the cost of using AI to write a typical 2000 words comes out to be $50 to $60. 

Human essays: A professional academic writer will typically charge depending upon the complexity of task, time available, and workload available. In busy academic season, a 2000 word essay might cost upwards of $100 for a moderate difficulty level essay. However, if you plan ahead and give your writer sufficient time, you can get the same essay done for $70 to $80. So, the difference in costs compared to AI essays is not that much. Still, if you want to save every buck, AI essays can get the job done for a lower price. 

Verdict: Human Essays: 3; AI essays: 1

Time Required

Students look at the time it takes to order an essay online vs. time it takes for AI to write the same essay when deciding between the two. In busy academic seasons, finding a professional writer to do your essay at the last minute can be difficult and expensive. So, you must have at least a few days in hand when ordering an essay from a professional writer. ChatGPT can do a similar task in a matter of an hour but you must be willing to spend some time in rewriting the essay to make it ready for submission. 

AI essays: AI tools can produce a lot of content within a matter of seconds if you know the right prompts. This is ideal for students who want a quick draft or generate some ideas to do their own essays. However, these drafts will require heavy editing to improve quality, accuracy, and coherence.

Using the same example as above, an average 2000 word essay will require somewhere between 4-5 hours to produce something that can be submitted without being detected. However, you are still likely to get a lowly C grade. 

Human essays: Professional human writers take more time—typically a few hours to a few days, depending on the complexity of the essay. There are services that can help you with urgent essay help request at a premium though. 

If ordering an average 2000 word essay, you should order at least 2 days in advance so that you can get a well-written essay that will get you a good grade. So, if you are someone who leaves everything to the last minute, human writers might not meet your expectations. 

Verdict: Human Essays: 3; AI essays: 2

Final Verdict

So, which one is better to do my essay: AI tools or professional writers. Our study suggests that AI tools have their uses, but they are restricted to simple essays where yo do not mind to spend time paraphrasing the content. However, for most tasks, human writers is the way to go if you want someone to do my essay. 

We have summarized the points on the five most important criteria that a student looks for. 

Criteria AI essays Professional writers Winner
Grades

B to C (easy topics)

Lowly C to F (complex topics)

 A+ to C+ (across topics) Human writers
Originality

Risk of generic content;

Detectable by Turnitin and AI detectors

 100% original, well cited Human writers
Difficult Tasks Struggles with critical thinking, original research, or creative tasks Can handle most complex essays or dissertations Human writers
Cost

Free for smaller tasks like Discussion posts

$50-$60 for a typical 2000 word essay (including implicit cost of paraphrasing)

 $70-$80 for a typical 2000 word essay

AI tools (for affordability)

Human writers (for value)
Time Required Instant results but require multiple iterations, specific prompts, and heavy editing Min. 12 hours for a 2000 word essay

AI tools (for speed)

Human writers (for overall quality) 

 

Our Remarks

We do not deny that AI tools are not useful in certain conditions. For example, 

  • If you just need a quick draft or help in generating ideas for your essay, AI can be helpful.
  • If you are looking for help with an easy assignment like a discussion post or descriptive essay, AI tools can be useful

However, if you want help with complex essays, want to maintain good grades, and do not want to risk being flagged for plagiarism, hiring a professional writer is the way to go: 

  • If you want a high-quality, original essay that gets better grades, human writers are the superior choice.
  • AI tools work best as a supplement, but they cannot fully replace human expertise in academic writing yet. 

Remember that AI tools can be act as a useful tool for you, but they cannot replace human expertise especially in complex tasks like dissertations or research-oriented essays.