A student offers his take on the promise and perils of ChatGPT

New developments in artificial intelligence are making some educators wary of how technology will transform school assignments and learning. The new artificial intelligence, or AI, tool from OpenAI, ChatGPT, has the ability to generate text with different, lifelike human voices and tone, depending on what you ask it, allowing anyone to produce essays, scripts or even poetry without offering more than an initial basic prompt. The ChatGPT algorithm so accurately captures different writing genres that it has even been able to pass business and law school exams.

However, its writing is not entirely foolproof. The AI cannot fact-check itself, so its products may contain false information or made-up sources. But that has not stopped the app from becoming a looming force over classrooms.

Many teachers that have spoken to PBS’ Student Reporting Labs are concerned about the ways students may use the technology to complete their assignments, rather than writing based on their own thinking and learning. School districts in Los Angeles, New York City and Baltimore have already blocked the ChatGPT website from their internal networks.

To help teachers combat potential plagiarism, OpenAI has released a ChatGPT detector to help educators spot cheating. However, this is not completely reliable and can still make mistakes, leaving teachers, like the ones at Catawba Ridge High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina, who spoke with Student Reporting Labs, stranded in this new era of technological growth.

Amid concerns about the impact of ChatGPT in education, some teachers are using the technology to help generate creative lesson plans, activities and quizzes. University professor Ethan Mollick said he believes that students can also benefit from ChatGPT beyond essay writing, by using it to help brainstorm ideas, or improve their proficiency in English.

The latest advancement in artificial intelligence has also encouraged a broader discussion about where the line between original work and plagiarism falls, as well as how the implications of AI’s rapid growth will affect society in the future.