AI writing feedback that helps you revise your own essay
Inline is an AI writing tutor for students. It reads your draft and puts focused questions beside specific passages, so you can decide what to develop, support, or explain.
What does useful essay feedback look like?
A comment such as “develop your reasoning” leaves you with another problem: finding the reasoning that needs work. A useful comment identifies the passage and explains what a reader still needs to understand.
Here is a fictional student passage with actual feedback from Inline:
Before my first biology exam, I spent most of the weekend rereading my notes. The pages looked familiar by Sunday, but I still struggled to explain the ideas on the test. For the next exam, I studied with two classmates and we took turns explaining the material. My score went up, which shows that studying in a group is more effective than studying alone.
Reasoning · Inline feedback
Your score rose after one group session. How far can that single result support a claim about all students and all courses?
The question points to a mismatch between the evidence and the conclusion. The writer describes one improvement on one exam, then makes a claim about studying in general. A revision could narrow the claim or bring in evidence that supports the wider conclusion. The writer chooses which direction fits the assignment.
Explore more sample essay feedback to see comments about evidence, reasoning, and strengths.
How to use Inline on a draft
- Bring your writing and assignment. Read your course’s AI policy first. Add the assignment context so the feedback has a purpose to respond to.
- Read the highlighted passage with its question. Check whether the comment identifies a real gap. You can disagree with a suggestion that misses your meaning.
- Choose the change that matters most. A missing explanation may affect the whole argument; a small wording change may affect only one sentence.
- Revise, then reread the surrounding paragraph. Check that your change answers the question and still fits the claim you want to make.
If you want to review a draft yourself first, use the essay revision checklist. It works with feedback from a classmate, a writing tutor, a professor, or Inline.
What Inline helps you examine
- Argument
- What your draft is trying to establish, and whether the main claim is clear enough for a reader to follow.
- Evidence and reasoning
- Whether the details support the claim, and whether you have explained the connection instead of expecting the reader to supply it.
- Clarity and strengths
- Where meaning is hard to follow, and which choices are already working and should survive the next revision.
Before you have a draft, Brainstorming asks questions about your ideas and assignment. In participating courses, professors can review submitted writing, its saved history, and feedback.
Does Inline write or grade the essay?
Inline is designed to ask questions and leave the writing to you. It does not supply an essay or rewrite your paragraphs. Its feedback is not your professor’s grade, and it cannot decide whether using AI is permitted in your course.
AI feedback can miss context or make mistakes. Check sources yourself, keep your assignment requirements in view, and bring questions you cannot resolve to your professor or writing center.
Is there a free option?
The beta is open to adults in the US. Inline Free includes Feedback and Brainstorming for drafts up to 1,000 words, with 2 runs per day and 8 per week. Pro is available through participating courses during the pilot and includes longer drafts and revision history.
Drafts stay private to you until you deliberately submit or share them. A course submission includes the linked draft’s full saved history, feedback, Brainstorming questions, and recorded writing activity. Read the FAQ about access and sharing before submitting.