We built a custom chatbot for an Introduction to News Editing course that's intentionally bad at its job. Students answer a few questions about story type and length, and the bot generates a flawed article, complete with grammar mistakes, structural problems, and questionable sources. Each student gets a unique story — no two experiences are the same. Students edit the mess and submit it back for instant, rubric-based feedback. After two semesters, we learned that AI makes a surprisingly effective practice partner, as long as humans stay in the loop. We'll share how we built it and what students actually thought.
