From time to time there is a discussion doing rounds about artificial intelligence taking over human civilization. Recently, this talk has been revitalized by another breakthrough technology that has been making headlines since it arrived in November 2022- the ChatGPT. In this article, we will discuss what ChatGPT is and whether ChatGPT can impact student thinking and creativity.
What Exactly is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a new language processing technology created by a San Francisco-based company Open AI, that was co-founded by Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk in 2015. It is an artificial intelligence chatbot that is capable of holding very human-like conversations and performing a variety of tasks such as:
- Writing essays
- Answering questions like Google does
- Construct stories, plays, scripts, you name it!
- Create a business proposal
- Produce a computer program
- Generate birthday party ideas
- Write a song
- Devise a standup comedy
- Write social media copy, and much more.
What’s even more interesting is that the software is completely free of cost- at least for now, as it is being used for research by its parent OpenAI.
How ChatGPT Works
ChatGPT is created using Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) whereby human AI trainers help its language model acquire natural human-like dialogue through interactive conversations and feedback.
While ChatGPT is not the first AI tool ever created to do a writing job for humans, it is certainly one of the most advanced ones. There are many other AI writing tools out there such as Jasper, Rytr, etc.
But the reason why ChatGPT has taken the world by storm is that it is far more creative than its competitors. This is because it employs GPT-3- the best language processing AI model to date, and because it is totally free.
Use (and Misuse) of ChatGPT by Students
Students have always looked for shortcuts to escape writing assignments. For instance, they have been using tools that spin Google articles to make them plagiarism free.
With ChatGPT there’s no need to make an effort to skip the writing process. You can simply type down the prompt and it will instantly generate an elaborate answer for you that is 100% unique. Though the answers it produces are pretty generic and surface-level, it does a good enough job for students to get by without having to do the painful thinking and writing.
How ChatGPT will Devastate Student Thinking Skills
If you want to learn how to think, you should learn how to write.
— Jordan Peterson, Clinical Psychologist
Educators have expressed concerns about ChatGPT’s impact on student thinking and creativity. If students start using AI for doing their assignments, they will miss out on the benefits that come along with writing the assignment themselves.
Writing helps develop many important skills in students such as critical thinking, logical reasoning, research skills, planning and organizing, and developing one’s own perspective.
While researching for their task, students read the writings of authors that help them enrich their knowledge base and gain new perspectives. Researching the topic lets them explore the topic from multiple dimensions which not only increases their knowledge but allows them to develop their thought.
Related: Barriers to Critical Thinking and How to Destroy Them
In addition, putting the knowledge they gained into writing pushes them to formulate a plan, structure all the information accordingly, and organize it into an essay. Students also acquire logical and analytical thinking skills as they develop their arguments backed by sound evidence and express information clearly through writing. The entire process engages their brain and contributes to their cognitive growth and communication skills.
If students start using machines for writing, they will stop their brains from thinking altogether. AI may write essays for students, but will not develop their thinking and communication skills which is the point of academic activity.
Will ChatGPT Discourage Creativity?
The effect of AI like ChatGPT on human creativity is a subject that is greatly debated.
Some people believe that AI will reduce creativity by inducing laziness in people. They would avoid using their own imagination and thinking process for creating a writing piece as they would simply generate pages using computer algorithms. This will reduce the human capacity for creativity and innovation.
Still, others are of the view that AI will unlock more avenues for human creativity by taking care of the mundane tasks for them so they can focus on the more complex ones. Further, they can complement human potential by offering inspiration and ideas.
ChatGPT and Ethics: Is Using Artificial Intelligence Plagiarism?
To answer this question, we’ll delve into what plagiarism really means.
The University of Oxford defines it as, “Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgment. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition.”. Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word “plagiarize” as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another’s production) without crediting the source”.
These definitions make it pretty clear that attributing content that is not created by you to yourself is plagiarism. Using artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT to generate pieces of writing and not attributing it to AI is deception and falls under academic dishonesty.
The Entry of ChatGPT Detection Software
As many educators expressed concern about the potential negative impact of the ChatGPT on student thinking and creativity and the education system, many actors stepped forward to tackle this challenge. The teacher’s favorite plagiarism detector Turnitin says that it is planning to release a ChatGPT detection system that will prevent the doom of class assignments.
What’s more, a computer science student at Princeton University jumped into the spotlight by creating an app that can detect ChatGPT-generated text.
That said, it doesn’t seem like students are going to get away with AI-generated work after all.
The Way Forward with ChatGPT
This is not to say that the use of ChatGPT is totally wrong. You can use it as a writing aid to assist you in your writing, but relying on it completely to do your work is not only unethical but also affects you on much deeper levels than you think.
AI writing tools can by no means replace the human brain but they can definitely make us rethink the future. What is the future of higher education? Is there a way to use AI tools ethically and safely? And more importantly, is the contemporary education system going to be relevant in the future?