PUNCH
A new Artificial Intelligence tool, ChatGPT, has raised concerns globally over its impact on education with its ability to produce high-quality essays with minimal human input.
ChatGPT is the latest chatbot from OpenAI, founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and others, but has only been publicly available since November. It also generates text on any subject in response to a prompt or query.
The new AI has already been banned across all devices in New York’s public schools due to concerns over its “negative impact on student learning” and potential for plagiarism.
While universities in Australia are considering returning to conventional pen and paper for examinations, lecturers in the United Kingdom universities have been urged to review the way in which their courses are assessed.
According to the Guardian UK, ChatGPT has been described as “a gamechanger” that will prove a challenge in universities and schools. Though GCSE and A-level courses are assessed through traditional end-of-course examinations, experts are concerned pupils who use the technology to do their homework will become dependent on AI-generated answers without acquiring the knowledge and skills they need.
The General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders,Geoff Barton, meanwhile, acknowledged that schools would have to get to grips with how to utilise ChatGPT’s benefits while guarding against negative implications.
