Also, on social media, received a lot of pushback on two areas:
1. "Why ban AI writing?" --> doing so turned out to be a wonderful decision. A few people still submitted AI writing, and it was woeful to try and read, we gave up on all of them.
2. "Why not allow anonymous essays?" --> Not allowing also turned out to be a good decision. No anonymity means we did not have to do fact-checking. A few people submitted anonymous, still: it's hard to tell if those are made up or real, and the author also cannot publish it, given they don't want association with it.
A lot of people wrote about their side projects, not their company: which worked great as well!
Essays feel honest, and also inspiring (for anyone looking for inspiration on how to make the most out of this technology change wave!)