# Interacting with next-phrase suggestions: How suggestion systems aid and influence the cognitive processes of writing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.00636 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.00636/

## Key facts

- Cited by 27 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 15 of its 52 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Aug 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [The Curious Case of Neural Text Degeneration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.09751/) (2019)
- [Model Cards for Model Reporting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.03993/) (2018)
- [Language (Technology) is Power: A Critical Survey of "Bias" in NLP](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14050/) (2020)
- [The Woman Worked as a Babysitter: On Biases in Language Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.01326/) (2019)
- [A Multiscale Visualization of Attention in the Transformer Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.05714/) (2019)
- [Measuring Bias in Contextualized Word Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.07337/) (2019)
- [CoAuthor: Designing a Human-AI Collaborative Writing Dataset for Exploring Language Model Capabilities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.06796/) (2022)
- [Grounded Copilot: How Programmers Interact with Code-Generating Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.15000/) (2022)
- [Regularizing and Optimizing LSTM Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.02182/) (2017)
- [Social Biases in NLP Models as Barriers for Persons with Disabilities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.00813/) (2020)
- [Gmail Smart Compose: Real-Time Assisted Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.00080/) (2019)
- [Evaluating the Underlying Gender Bias in Contextualized Word Embeddings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.08783/) (2019)
- [The Impact of Multiple Parallel Phrase Suggestions on Email Input and Composition Behaviour of Native and Non-Native English Writers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.09157/) (2021)
- [Artificial intelligence in communication impacts language and social relationships](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.05756/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 27 of 27)

- [Does Writing with Language Models Reduce Content Diversity?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.05196/) (2023)
- [Co-Writing with Opinionated Language Models Affects Users' Views](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00560/) (2023)
- [Homogenization Effects of Large Language Models on Human Creative Ideation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01536/) (2024)
- [A Design Space for Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14117/) (2024)
- [AI Suggestions Homogenize Writing Toward Western Styles and Diminish Cultural Nuances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11360/) (2024)
- [Shaping Human-AI Collaboration: Varied Scaffolding Levels in Co-writing with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11723/) (2024)
- [VISAR: A Human-AI Argumentative Writing Assistant with Visual Programming and Rapid Draft Prototyping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07810/) (2023)
- [Writer-Defined AI Personas for On-Demand Feedback Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10433/) (2023)
- [Creativity Support in the Age of Large Language Models: An Empirical Study Involving Emerging Writers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.12570/) (2023)
- [Prototypical Human-AI Collaboration Behaviors from LLM-Assisted Writing in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.16023/) (2025)
- [Co-Writing with AI, on Human Terms: Aligning Research with User Demands Across the Writing Process](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.12488/) (2025)
- [Collage is the New Writing: Exploring the Fragmentation of Text and User Interfaces in AI Tools](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.17217/) (2024)
- [The Dearth of the Author in AI-Supported Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10289/) (2024)
- [Human-AI Interactions and Societal Pitfalls](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10448/) (2023)
- [CorpusStudio: Surfacing Emergent Patterns in a Corpus of Prior Work while Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.12436/) (2025)
- [Reactive Writers: How Co-Writing with AI Changes How We Engage with Ideas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.10374/) (2026)
- [CoCo Matrix: Taxonomy of Cognitive Contributions in Co-writing with Intelligent Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12438/) (2024)
- [When Stereotypes GTG: The Impact of Predictive Text Suggestions on Gender Bias in Human-AI Co-Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.20390/) (2024)
- [PromptCanvas: Composable Prompting Workspaces Using Dynamic Widgets for Exploration and Iteration in Creative Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.03741/) (2025)
- [Exploring Mobile Touch Interaction with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.07629/) (2025)
- [Who Owns the Text? Design Patterns for Preserving Authorship in AI-Assisted Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.10236/) (2026)
- [What happens when reviewers receive AI feedback in their reviews?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.13817/) (2026)
- [PlayWrite: A Multimodal System for AI Supported Narrative Co-Authoring Through Play in XR](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02366/) (2026)
- [User Review Writing via Interview with Dialogue Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.07070/) (2026)
- [Designing Proactive Thought Partners for Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.01588/) (2026)
- [Beyond Compliance: How AI Could Help Creative Writers by Refusing Them](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.16272/) (2026)
- [Towards Cognitive Process-Aware Proactive Writing Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.30424/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Writing with next-phrase suggestions powered by large language models is becoming more pervasive by the day. However, research to understand writers' interaction and decision-making processes while engaging with such systems is still emerging. We conducted a qualitative study to shed light on writers' cognitive processes while writing with next-phrase suggestion systems. To do so, we recruited 14 amateur writers to write two reviews each, one without suggestions and one with suggestions. Additionally, we also positively and negatively biased the suggestion system to get a diverse range of instances where writers' opinions and the bias in the language model align or misalign to varying degrees. We found that writers interact with next-phrase suggestions in various complex ways: Writers abstracted and extracted multiple parts of the suggestions and incorporated them within their writing, even when they disagreed with the suggestion as a whole; along with evaluating the suggestions on various criteria. The suggestion system also had various effects on the writing process, such as altering the writer's usual writing plans, leading to higher levels of distraction etc. Based on our qualitative analysis using the cognitive process model of writing by Hayes as a lens, we propose a theoretical model of 'writer-suggestion interaction' for writing with GPT-2 (and causal language models in general) for a movie review writing task, followed by directions for future research and design.