The Use of Generative AI in Creative Writing as a Means of Emotional Support for County Middle School Students in China

• In Event: Exploring the role of socio-emotional skills for educational attainment

Proposal

INTRODUCTION
In China, county-level schools, such as those in Yuanling County, face significant challenges that affect both the educational quality and the emotional well-being of their students. The rapid urbanization and expansion of cities have led to the creation of "super schools" in many counties, where multiple smaller schools are consolidated into a single, large institution (Author, 2023). This strategy is intended to optimize resource allocation and simplify management. However, this centralization has also resulted in unintended consequences. Students in these "super schools" often find themselves "locked" into the Gaokao examination system, which places a singular focus on exam performance, limiting broader educational and emotional development (Author, 2023).
These schools in the county level often struggle with limited access to advanced educational resources, which exacerbates the already intense academic competition among students (Author, 2015). Furthermore, the mental health of students is a growing concern, driven by a combination of academic pressure and a lack of adequate emotional care and support systems (Author, 2023; Author, 2009).
This study aims to explore the potential of AI in supporting creative writing as a mean of emotional support for middle school students in a county-level school in Yuanling Hunan. Creative writing has been recognized as an effective medium for emotion expression, which allows students to articulate their thoughts and feelings in a yet imaginative way (Author, 2024). Generative AI could provide creative content and personalized feedback which can enhance traditional education practices (Author, 2024). By integrating AI language tools into the creative writing process, this study seeks to examine how these technologies can help students explore their emotions, develop coping strategies, and maybe build emotional resilience.

METHOD
This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys and interviews, and involved 200 first-year students from Yuanling No. 6 Middle School, a representative county-level institution in China. Data collection included pre- and post-intervention writing assessments, surveys, and focus groups. Survey data were obtained using a stratified random sampling technique, selecting students from both ordinary and top-performing classes. The detailed questionnaire covered students'
creative writing habits, emotional expression, and familiarity with AI tools. In-depth interviews explored their personal writing experiences, emotional well-being, and insights on using AI.
Due to the students' limited English proficiency, a Chinese large language model was chosen. Among available models, Spark Desk AI was selected for its notable strengths in dialogue, role-playing, content generation, and creative support. In the SuperCLUE (2023) Basic Ability List, Spark Desk AI ranked third globally and first in China. During the intervention, students interacted with Spark Desk AI for creative writing guidance, inputting prompts to receive inspiration and feedback. The AI provided relevant writing materials, structural examples, and basic techniques, helping to stimulate and refine their ideas.

FINDINGS
1. Enhancing emotional expression through creative writing with AI
Creative writing is a recognized tool to support emotional expression. Writing allowing students to articulate their feelings, experiences, and thoughts in a safe and imaginative environment. AI can augment this process by providing students with prompts, feedback, and examples that encourage them to explore their emotions through storytelling. For students who may struggle to express their feelings directly due to cultural or social constraints, creative writing facilitated by AI offers a less intimidating way to process and communicate their emotions.
2. Immediate emotional support through positive reinforcement when co-writing with AI
In high-stress educational environments where students face intense academic pressure and have limited free time, AI demonstrated potential as a tool for emotional support while focusing on creative writing. The study revealed that AI could provide immediate emotional comfort by generating positive responses to students' questions, in which the reinforcement can help alleviate feelings of loneliness and anxiety, offering a form of companionship that many students may lack due to their circumstances.
3. Fostering emotional resilience and coping skills while writing serves as a therapeutic outlet
Students utilized AI as an interactive tool for creative writing around their own thoughts and emotions, at the same time, AI can assist students in imitating the diverse language styles of famous writers, promoting the development of originality and narrative complexity. This approach allows students to practice constructive writing skills, enhance their creative output while building their own story.

DISCUSSION
Despite its potential, AI was observed to lack engaging and dynamic language capabilities, limiting its effectiveness in fully understanding and responding to the nuances of students' emotional states. AI's positive responses, offering some emotional value, often fell short in accurately interpreting students' emotional conditions and addressing their specific emotional concerns.
When designing AI tools for writing education, it is crucial to recognize and address the diverse needs of students, which extend beyond mere writing skills to include their emotional and psychological well-being. Some design features: develop personalized path for learning; address students' emotional needs, AI tools should include features that are sensitive to emotional cues in students' writing; expand the database and content diversity; enhance feedback quality while ensuring the immediacy; more promote long-term habits of creative writing for emotional expression.

Keywords: AI in education, creative writing, emotional expression, Chinese county-level schools, empirical research, educational technology

Authors

• Huiqiao Yuan, Duke Kunshan University

• Ai Zhou, Duke Kunshan University

• Chloe Zeng, Duke Kunshan University

• Hanyang Zhou, Duke Kunshan University