Recently, a discussion has been sparked about the use of ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in classrooms, as there is the potential for students to use them as a tool to plagiarize school work. Fox News surveyed college students and the majority reported knowing or having heard of peers utilizing these technologies.
Riley, an economics major, and Piper, a STEM major, both confirmed that they had heard rumors of classmates using ChatGPT for academic projects. Themis, a human dimensions of organizations major, explained that she had witnessed people utilizing AI tools on social media and heard of their use in the classroom. Carly, a journalism major, said that while she had seen ChatGPT mentioned online, she didn’t know of anyone personally who had used it for school work.
Edward McFowland III, a Harvard Business School Assistant Professor, made the comparison between ChatGPT and similar educational technologies, saying that ChatGPT provides similar benefits to a calculator with disadvantages akin to Wikipedia in terms of the accuracy of sources. Language studies major, Samuel, indicated that he had heard of people using ChatGPT for exams. A computer science major from China clarified that the technology is used for assistance, not outright plagiarism. Meanwhile, Abhinav, a computer science and business major, described using the AI technology to supplement his studies.
OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, recently released an even more advanced version, ChatGPT-4, which can describe photos and can understand multiple texts at once.
It is clear that ChatGPT and similar AI technologies should be used carefully, if at all. College students can easily be tempted to rely on these tools to complete their assignments, and it might be difficult to check for plagiarism, as AI-generated copy can be difficult to distinguish from original content. To reduce the chance of academic misconduct, students should remain vigilant and independent in their studies.
