Chat GPT: A Tool for Growth or a Cheater’s Best Friend?
A set of binary code
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Chat GPT can write an essay, solve a math problem or answer a question with only a simple prompt. Plus, it's free. In other words, it's easier than ever to cheat on academic work.
Chat GPT was created by the Open AI research organization. There are dozens of applications for Chat GPT, such as answering basic questions, creating recipes or turning notes into summaries. But that begs the question, how will such a powerful tool affect academic integrity, and can we discount its capacity as a tool for learning?
Since the beginning of graded academia, students have found ways to cheat. From glancing at their neighbor's test to paying someone else to do their work, cheaters have always found a way to prosper. A poll by the International Center For Academic Integrity states that over 60% of college students said that they have at one point cheated in their academic endeavors.
According to the Open Education Database, 95% of cheaters are never caught. Now enter Chat GPT, which is on a whole new level of cheating. It's not simply plagiarizing – it's fabricating the entirety of its contents.
A student who wishes to remain anonymous said that using the program was as easy as putting the assignment question into the text box, and then it answered the questions perfectly. The grades the student received were As and Bs, and their professor was never the wiser.
Another anonymous student had a more complex strategy. They plugged the essay prompt into Chat GPT, dumbed down the sophisticated language and ran it through Grammarly to achieve a more conversational tone. However, the student claims they only received a C on the essay.
A similar event in the history of educational tools was the advent of the calculator in the classroom. A Los Angeles Times article from 1986 reveals that when the calculator first entered the classroom, there was plenty of discourse regarding how they would affect students. Proponents argued that there were only positive effects found on students using calculators, so long as they already possessed a decent understanding of math. There were also those who denounced the calculator as a crutch. We now know that in the end, the calculator won out, and it’s now a staple in practically every math class from high school to college.
I would argue that Chat GPT is the same as the calculator. While there are absolutely students who will use Chat GPT to cheat on every assignment, exam and project, there are also students who will use it as a valuable tool. They can use it to fix grammatical errors or help to formulate an outline to get them started. It can take the monotonous, time-consuming work out of the equation to allow more focus on what actually matters in the assignment – the intellectual and creative elements.
Similar applications and plug-ins already exist with capabilities similar to those of Chat GPT. Grammarly is a popular app that corrects spelling and grammar, but I doubt anyone would claim that it counts as cheating. What’s really important is that students understand the basics of what they’re learning.
The lively debate once sparked by calculators was once again ignited by Chat GPT at a panel on AI and Academic Integrity at Marist College. Panelists including Professional Lecturer of Computer Science Brian Gormanly, Director of the Weiss Language Center Kevin Gaugler, Assistant Vice President of Information Technology Julian Sharp and The Director of the Writing Center Kathleen Weisse discussed the effect Chat GPT would have on the classroom.
The general sentiment of the meeting was that Chat GPT is here, and it can be used as a powerful learning tool by both professors and students. Professors will have to change the way they run their classrooms in order to get students to think critically about Chat GPT and their assignments. Director Weisse cautioned against hunting for students who are using Chat GPT. Instead, she pressed for professors to emphasize the value of the assignments.
“I think it provides an opportunity for both students and instructors to bring course content to the next level. If we do this right, we’re all going to be more knowledgeable at the end of a four-year degree,” Director Gaugler said.