ChatGPT — Technological progress is always worthwhile to embrace since it may make life easier.
However, there may be drawbacks, notably in terms of education.
The AI race
With the introduction of ChatGPT by OpenAI in late 2022, artificial intelligence has become the most popular topic on the internet.
Because the AI tool can do several tasks with a single command, it is ideal for academic and administrative tasks.
The tool’s success drew the attention of millions of users.
In early 2023, Microsoft planned to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, more than tripling the company’s value to $29 billion.
Former OpenAI employees have joined Anthropic, a new company that is piloting its own chatbot, Claude.
Google launched Bard in early February, while Baidu, the Chinese search engine, launched Ernie in March.
Academic use
ChatGPT has heralded a new era, but it has also unleashed a wave of artificial intelligence that threatens to devastate education.
According to a research done by Stanford University’s student-run newspaper, 17% of the university’s students would use ChatGPT on projects and tests by the end of 2022.
Because ChatGPT performed so well, some students may have handed the AI’s output as their own, and many are likely still doing so.
Room to learn
Brett Vogelsinger, a ninth-grade English teacher, discovered a student’s essay after reading a sentence that caught his curiosity.
Even though the essay was unfinished, Vogelsinger may not have identified it as a ChatGPT study if the student hadn’t copied and pasted it.
“It can outperform a lot of middle school kids,” said the English teacher.
Vogelsinger interpreted the conduct as a learning opportunity rather than a cheating effort.
“[We’re] color-coding,” said the teacher.
The ChatGPT was highlighted in blue, and the student’s writing was highlighted in green.
Brett Vogelsinger helps the student decide which AI assertions to expand on, allowing others to interact with the AI.
Although most students do not use it on a regular basis, Vogelsinger believes it has assisted them in focusing on their ideas and getting started.
Other establishments
Although Brett Vogelsinger successfully completed the challenge, teachers at other colleges and universities are having difficulties with ChatGPT and other AI applications.
ChatGPT was banned in New York public schools in early January, thereby blocking the program on devices and networks.
Many educators are concerned that students using it would be unable to think critically or solve issues.
Others were afraid that the tool’s results may be harmful or incorrect.
Similar limits have been imposed by other school districts in the United States and throughout the world.
Keith Schwarz, a computer science professor at Stanford, stated that he limited his students’ use of ChatGPT by administering traditional pencil-and-paper tests.
Read also: BuzzFeed wants to take advantage of AI
The good
Despite the controversy surrounding ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence technologies, they may continue to benefit students.
It can, for example, reduce the amount of time required to write in the same way that a calculator helps arithmetic or Google searches for information.
The AI technology astounded Avani Rao, a high school sophomore from California.
“It’s so much more realistic than I thought a robot could be,” said Rao.
Rao has used ChatGPT to experiment with creative or new things, but not in the classroom.
Because of the tool’s usefulness, there are several ways it might help children learning a second language or those who are unable to create sentences.
ChatGPT creates unique content and does not plagiarize.
Students may also use the AI tool as a coach to assist them improve their writing and language skills, as well as to clarify any challenges they are having.
“It really will tutor you,” said Vogelsinger.
According to one of his students, ChatGPT clearly explained a subject from their scientific lecture.
Educators may also use ChatGPT to create or modify lesson plans, exercises, and exams to match the needs of specific students.
Xiaoming Zhai, a scientific education expert at the University of Georgia, used an academic essay to evaluate the program.
He was astounded by the outcome because of its ability to absorb knowledge and produce good writing.
“It’s really amazing,” said Zhai.
The bad
While AI technologies undoubtedly offer many advantages, they also have considerable disadvantages.
One of the most major issues is that because ChatGPT and other technologies do not use data from databases, they may make mistakes.
Instead, they are trained to compose original, natural-sounding compositions.
Without understanding, language is remixed, resulting in mistakes.
CNET, for example, was scolded in 2023 for utilizing AI to produce a huge amount of inaccurate articles.
In early promotion, the Bard chatbot made inaccurate statements about the James Webb Space Telescope.
ChatGPT is “confidently wrong,” according to Casey Fiesler, a technology ethics specialist at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“There are mistakes and bad information,” she pointed out.
Fiesler has also made TikTok videos highlighting ChatGPT’s problems.
The OpenAI tool’s training data is limited, extending back to before September 2021.
When asked for sources, the device made them up.
Xiaoming Zhai likes the technology, but when he needs citations, he recognizes its limits.
The outcomes looked to be correct, yet they did not exist.
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