Although ChatGPT is not the first of its kind, it brought a lot of attention to AI. Specifically the education world had all of their eyes locked on it. AI has caused a lot of debates for all kinds of people in many fields. This article dives deeper into the issues and some benefits AI can bring up. Research was done also for this topic and article.

The issue

ChatGPT is very new. It was only released towards the end of 2022 and has only helped spawn other similar applications. It almost immediately brought concern to educators. The very first concern was that cheating was easily accessible to students.

• The AI could write university-level essays
• Pass “some” exams
• The attempts from AI were “largely indistinguishable” from an actual student

Are students actually using AI?

This article conduced research on Australian academics and Australian university students.

• 110 people in the study
  • 78 Students
  • 32 Academics

• Almost half of the people have not even tried to use any generative AI
  • From this half, 85% planned on not using this type of technology at their university for this coming school year.
  • These students who are not using AI really do feel that it would be considered cheating if they were to use and rely on it for their classes.

Cheating is a major topic for students when discussing using AI technology. Academic honesty is a big discussion for professors on the first day of classes in university. If caught cheating it could lead to failing and potentially being kicked out of your school. Since ChatGPT and similar applications are still so fresh, the rules for using it really varies on the professor you have. Right now students feel it is better to not use it all together to avoid any issues with potential cheating.

The study done also had written responses submitted. Another worry that many students shared is the actual information provided from the AI. They are not sure how reliable the content is. Just because a computer application is telling you something, it is important to remember that it can be wrong also.

AI is a tool

New things are always scary. It is important to look at the cons, but recognizing the benefits is just as important. The other half of students and everyone a part of the study that do use AI, made great point in favor of ChatGPT.

• Used to help brainstorm ideas
• Almost like having a “partner”: the interactive nature of the programs are very useful
• leads to more efficient with your time and energy
• Manage stress levels for students

The future?

The divide about using AI for assessment is not clear cut. 46% agree in using it, 36% disagree, and 16% are unsure. This is expected as it is so new and still so much to be learned. Not even half of the top 500 universities in the world have a clear statement about the use of ChatGPT at their university.

This topic and debate will only get bigger as the years go on. Not only that, answers will get clearer about the use. It is all about working together and finding what works best for students and how to make sure they are learning. Just copying, pasting, and cheating will not do students any good. They will not learn what they need. Teachers and professors may also benefit from AI use.