A great song writer once wrote, 'Freedom
is just another word with nothing else to lose'.
Can we use freedom as a verb? I haven't figured out how. When I use the formula, of Subject verb subject, I feel I haven give ample focus to the subject at hand. I agree with your last statement
'if students wrote more agent-generated prose, they would a) have an easier time making the points they wish to make, and b) use "to
be" a lot less, often without trying to do so'. I find in the business circles, especially in financial institutions replacing the 'to
be' verbs in memo writing has greatly reduced the time people spend trying to figure out what the other party has written.