What is chatgpt and how does it impact students?

Love it or hate it, AI technology tools have begun to get legs – and run. This is especially concerning in the education sector, where more and more students are getting ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) to write their assignments for them. After recent studies showed that AI tools typically produce a B average for standard American MBAs, colleges, and teachers are looking for answers.

There must be ways to incorporate these new toys into complex learning and business structures.

What is ChatGPT?

Classified as a “language model chatbot”, OpenAI’s free software collects and re-works texts from a huge range of internet databases. At the written request of the user, who types in a question, it draws from websites, journals, and even Reddit conversations, and works much like a researcher and/or copywriter does to combine and summarise the information.

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT has already made a worrying dent in the content supply industry and in education, while online customer service, computer code error search, and robot lawyers are it’s more recent new developments.

ChatGPT in Education

While some schools and colleges are allowing limited use of the new technology, passing it off as original work is, of course, deemed plagiarism. Using it to write assignments, tests, and research papers is a blatant cheat. However, it can hold a place in learning as a summative tool, allowing students to get an overview of a topic or see it explained in a different way, or in a more easily concise and consumable text. From there, they may have a better understanding of the concept, which would allow for better original writing on the subject.

The Drawbacks

ChaptGPT cannot distinguish clearly between reliable and non-reliable sources and doesn’t provide references. This means that whatever it comes up with as the end result, may have some unreliable or untrue information. Many people have been taught – or CAN BE taught – to identify trustworthy sources; this is one of the biggest areas where humans have the upper hand.

Another aspect that calls for a more nuanced approach is in tone – understanding your target audience, and writing in the way that connects with them best. A subtle shift in the tone of writing can make an enormous difference on the readers’ interest and attention, as well as develop a feeling of community.

Turnitin has a solution!

BUT here is the good news! Turnitins AI-dev team seem to have a solution! Taken off their website below:

“AI writing tools are developing at a rapid pace and so is Turnitin’s technology to detect these emerging forms of misconduct. Recently, we shared with you that we have technology that can detect AI-assisted writing and AI writing generated by tools such as ChatGPT. Today, we want to introduce you to our AI Innovation Lab to give you a first-hand glimpse of what our technology (in development) can do.

Our AI team has been working on AI-powered solutions for several years now, and now we’d like to take you along on the ride. Watch this short demo where David Adamson, an AI scientist at Turnitin and a former high school teacher, walks you through our AI writing detection capability.”