By: Daniel Gao, Staff Writer
With the breakthrough of ChatGPT, a generative text ai language model, much of the education system is at risk as students can use the software to cheat on academic essays and other writing assignments. With the newest version of OpenAI’s GPT-4, the language model can now interpret images and complete AP exams with scores higher than most students. Microsoft Bing also integrates GPT-4 into its search engine and is now widely accessible by students.
However, as soon as OpenAI’s chatbot was released to the public, countermeasures were developed to detect written work. After a few months, Turnitin.com added the ability to detect AI written work with its plagiarism software. With the loophole temporarily patched, teachers can rest assured that “take-home paper assignments” can’t be cheated on.
Mr. Hensley teaches English and has already caught students using ChatGPT to write essays. He said, “Without using Turnitin anti-plagiarism software, I would have thought this essay was excellent. However, I was disappointed when most of the essay was flagged as AI.” While tools like ChatGPT may seem helpful for students, the potential for abuse is significant, as demonstrated by Mr. Hensley’s experience. Without TurnItIn’s AI plagiarism check, students could pass English without writing a single essay. While this might sound like the ideal high school scenario, the lack of creative writing will haunt students back during AP testing, where they are forced to write an essay under the eyes of a proctor. The result will be lower than expected scores in AP English exams than what teachers have been anticipating of their students.
While students can still use ChatGPT to assist them in learning, they should be aware that the language model is still in its early stages of development, and there are limitations on its information. For example, ChatGPT is only updated on the news before September 2021. Even if it does provide details and sounds convincing, the responses are entirely made up. Because of this, pupils should be encouraged to use AI as a tool, not a crutch. With overreliance on ChatGPT, they could lose their critical thinking and writing skills. Instead, students should use ChatGPT to help them learn, such as letting the chatbot give feedback on their essays and replacing what an online tutor would do. As artificial intelligence develops, we speculate that online tutor sites such as tutor.com will turn to AI chatbots to further students in their educational upbringing. Just like any source, students should still fact-check what ChatGPT provides to their questions.
As for now, AI technology has made significant strides in the field of education, offering new ways to teach and learn. One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the emergence of personalized learning tools such as Quizlet by leveraging AI to tailor lessons and resources to the individual needs of each student. By analyzing data on a student’s learning style, strengths, and weaknesses, these tools can provide customized lesson plans and activities, helping students to progress at their own pace and in their own way. AI can also automate grading and feedback, providing teachers more time to focus on tasks such as lesson planning and individual student support. With these and other applications, AI has the potential to transform the way we approach education, making it more effective, efficient, and engaging for students and teachers alike.
