Responsible AI consulting for writing-intensive teams

Build AI workflows your team can actually use.

Practical training, thoughtful governance, and human-centered systems for clearer, more accountable communication.

Alan Knowles helps academic and professional teams integrate AI into writing, communication, and knowledge work—without losing the judgment, transparency, and accountability that good work requires.

Ways to work together

Consulting built around real workflows

Every engagement begins with the work your people already do, then adds AI where it can create meaningful, responsible value.

AI Workflow Training

Hands-on workshops that help staff use AI confidently while maintaining clear human checkpoints and responsible practices.

Best for: teams moving from experimentation to consistent practice.

Leave with repeatable workflows, shared standards, and next steps.

Prompt Libraries & AI Agents

Reusable prompt systems and task-specific AI experiences shaped around your documents, audiences, and operational constraints.

Best for: recurring communication and knowledge-work tasks.

Leave with a usable prototype and a plan for responsible adoption.

Speaking & Facilitation

Clear, audience-specific talks and working sessions on AI privacy, governance, writing, and organizational integration.

Best for: leadership groups, conferences, and professional teams.

Leave with a shared vocabulary and actionable direction.

Not sure which engagement fits? Start with the outcome you need.

Discuss Your AI Initiative
An illustrated human-AI workflow moving from data and human judgment through prompting, AI assistance, review, collaboration, and publication

About Alan

Education

  • Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition (ABD) Miami University, tbd
  • M.A. in Rhetoric and Compostion Wright State University, 2016

Research Interests

  • Machine-in-the-loop workflows
  • Rhetorical load sharing
  • AI-assisted writing
  • Technical writing & communication
  • Machine ethics
  • UX design

Teaching Experience

Select a course below to view a short description of its focus, methods, and learning goals.

Scholarship & engagement

Publications & Speaking

Selected research, conference presentations, and invited talks on human-AI collaboration, writing, and responsible adoption.

Publications
  • “Machine-in-the-Loop Writing: Optimizing the Rhetorical Load” Computers and Composition, 71, 102826, 2024
  • “Rhetorical Analysis of Predictive LLMs” In A. Vee, T. Laquintano, & C. Schnitzler (Eds.), TextGenEd: Teaching with Generation Technologies, WAC Clearinghouse, 2023
  • “Human-AI Collaborative Writing: Sharing the Rhetorical Task Load” IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm), pp. 257–261, 2022
  • “Human-AI Teaming: Cases and Considerations for Professional Communicators” With Ann Hill Duin, Heidi A. McKee, Isabel Pedersen, and James E. Porter; IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm), pp. 201–202, 2022
Academic Conferences
  • “Rhetorical Load Sharing Theory: Developing AI-Optimized Writing Workflows” Panel presentation with Bill Hart-Davidson, Ben Lauren, and Joanna Johnson; Computers and Writing Conference, July 2023
  • “Ethical LLM Usage: HITL Writing Workflows” Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW), June 2023
  • “Human-AI Collaborative Writing: Reduction of the Human Cognitive Task Load” Panel presentation with Ann Hill Duin, Heidi McKee, Isabel Pedersen, and James Porter; IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm), Limerick, Ireland, July 2022
  • “Emerging Rhetorical Praxes: Welcoming AI Collaborators to the Classroom” Panel presentation with Heidi McKee and Nathan Riggs; Computers and Writing Conference, Greenville, NC, May 2022
  • “Universal Adversarial Triggers in Machine Writing: AI Mirroring Our Worst Natures” Computers and Writing Conference, Greenville, NC, May 2022
  • “Computing Rhetorical Profiles: The Imitatio Model of Machine Pedagogy” Computers and Writing Conference (CWCON), East Lansing, MI, June 2019
  • “Location-Based Participation: YikYak as a Research Site for Local Discourse Community Formation” Panel presentation with Ashley Hall and Zack Gregory; Thomas R. Watson Conference, Louisville, KY, October 2016
Other Professional Speaking Events
  • From Classroom to Career: How Dayton-Area Colleges are Building AI-Ready Graduates Dayton AI Day Conference 2026 · August 2026
  • AI for Business Writing: Few-Shot Prompt Engineering & RAG Raj Soin College of Business AES AI Summer Camp · June 2026 & July 2025
  • HITL Writing Workflows and AI Privacy WSU Data Analytics Club · December 2025
  • AI: How to Use, Ethics, and Data Security Premier Health Foundations Estate & Tax Seminar · November 2025
  • ChatGPT in Higher Education OARnet Spring Member Meeting · May 2023
  • Should Higher Ed Ban ChatGPT? WSU CoLA AI Policy Panel · April 2023
Committees & Professional Service
  • WSU Senate Information Technology Committee 2024–2025; 2026–present
  • WSU AI Policy Committee 2023
  • CoLA Elections Committee 2025–2026
  • Writing Programs Committee 2022–present
  • CoLA PR Committee 2024–2025
  • CoLA AI Task Force 2026–present

Start with your goal

Let’s design a responsible AI workflow.

Tell Alan what your team is trying to accomplish, where the current process gets stuck, and what a useful outcome would look like.

Purpose