ChatGPT may be good at helping with some simpler tasks, but it is certainly not advanced enough to pass a college exam – at least not yet. Researchers at the U.K.’s University of Bath found that while it excels at certain tasks like multiple choice questions, it struggles with anything requiring creativity and original thinking. In fact, they discovered that its answers were so blatantly wrong that it was easy even for the examiners to spot them.
The chatbot also invented fake academic papers and cited them in its answer. Even though the names of the authors and journals were correct, a quick check revealed that the cited articles simply didn’t exist. Steve Wozniak, the Apple founder, even warned that this type of technology could make scams even more convincing.
Although ChatGPT can help teachers lesson plan and mark students’ papers, the topic of exam papers is something that should be approached cautiously. That’s why education secretary, Gillian Keegan, suggests using the bot for guiding students in their research and tasking, rather than using it for exam papers and theses.
On a more positive note, universities and colleges around the world are teaching their students how to use and manage AI technology as it becomes more mainstream. This can improve productivity and help students generate ideas they can then take further.
Even though ChatGPT may not be ready to take on the role of a trustworthy exam-taker any time soon, it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on the AI industry as it continues to grow and improve. Who knows, the next generation of chatbots may just be intelligent enough to pass their college exams after all.
