Recent Advances in AI-Powered Writing Assistants for EFL Writing and Future Prospects

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to more sophisticated AI-powered writing assistants that help English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners improve their English writing quality. In recent years, AI writing assistants have received increasing attention among EFL teachers and learners. To gain a deeper understanding of AI applications in EFL writing, this paper attempts to provide an overview of the type of technology, features, advantages, and limitations of some popular AI writing assistants among EFL learners. The overview indicates that existing writing assistants are potentially useful tools for EFL writers who need real-time corrective feedback on their English writing. However, these digital tools are not yet capable of providing intelligent error analysis, interactive problem-solving, adaptive feedback, and scaffolding. Therefore, longitudinal collaborative research involving AI technology experts, language educators, and teachers is required to overcome the constraints of existing writing assistants. This overview provides guidelines for AI technology creators to develop more adaptive AI-powered tools and for language educators to identify and select the most appropriate writing assistants for different EFL writing purposes. The paper also sheds light on the future prospects of AI technologies in digital writing tools for EFL writing.