From Intention to Text: AI-Supported Goal Setting in Academic Writing
arXiv cs.CL / 4/20/2026
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Key Points
- The paper introduces WriteFlow, an AI voice-based writing assistant that uses goal-oriented dialogue to support reflective academic writing.
- It argues that existing AI writing tools focus on efficiency but provide limited help with metacognition and the writer’s sense of agency when goals evolve during drafting.
- Results from a Wizard-of-Oz study with 12 expert users indicate that WriteFlow helps users refine goals iteratively, keep goals aligned with the developing text, and evaluate whether goal fulfillment is being achieved.
- The authors outline design implications for future AI writing systems that emphasize reflective, dialogic interaction, flexible goal structures, and multi-perspective feedback to enable intentional writing.
- The work builds on prior research and includes a formative study (17 participants) showing that writers commonly struggle to articulate and manage changing goals.
