ChatGPT is a new version of AI that has been sweeping the nation recently. This new technology has been finding its way into schools, specifically Yarmouth High School (YHS). I interviewed a few students and teachers to get their opinion. I also interviewed ChatGPT to get its ‘opinion’ on how it can be used in schools. When I asked it to describe itself, ChatGPT said , “I am ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI. I have been trained on a wide range of data sources … My purpose is to assist and provide information on various topics to the best of my abilities. However, it's important to note that I am an artificial intelligence and do not possess personal experiences, emotions, or consciousness.” This description is extremely accurate from my personal experience with ChatGPT.
I began my human interviews with Bryan Quigley who is a science teacher at YHS. When asked how he thinks how ChatGPT should be used in the classroom, he responded with, “As a teacher, I think that it can be used…with some support and some guidelines on like how to use it, I think it could be a really powerful tool for the classroom. However, right now there is nothing really developed for that.”
I then asked how he thinks it should be developed and used: “What I think it should be is a supplemental teaching tool; a ‘I don't understand this topic, explain it to me in different ways’ or ‘I'm having a hard time researching this topic. Can you provide some prompts or some questions that would help me research it better?’ Right now, what I'm seeing people use it for is; ‘Here's my homework question. What's the answer?’ And I don't think that's helpful because it's not having you think about anything. I think ChatGPT should be used to give you an opportunity to learn, not to just get a grade.”
When I asked Liam Hackett a 10th grader at YHS how he uses ChatGPT he said he uses it in a very similar way to how Quigly described: “to summarize topics that I don't want to take the time to, like, fully learn about, or like, if I need to know something. Like I did it for biology I asked it to summarize the meaning of like cellular respiration when I couldn't quite understand it.”
I asked Marc Halsted, a US history teacher at YHS, about how he thinks ChatGPT is being used in school. His opinion differs widely to Quigly and Hackett’s. “I'm sure there's good uses for everything, but in my little world, what we've been dealing with this year, it's just the already rampant copying of other students' work has now taken on a whole other life form that we as teachers have to navigate. So it's just disappointing.” Quigley also commented on the use of ChatGPT to plagiarize: “So what I would say is if they don't cite it, yeah, technically it's plagiarism because some other entity, or some other corporation created it, right? If you put it in quotations and cite it as chat GPT in full, then yeah, you're technically citing it, but does that count as your answer? Again, I don't think it does. … So like, there are ways to use it in an appropriate manner and we just have to teach those.”
As part of this article I also ‘interviewed’ ChatGPT on all this topic. I asked how it thinks it should be used. It gave me a list: “Research and information gathering, Writing assistance, Concept exploration, Creative inspiration, Language learning, and aVirtual tutor.” Intended the list with this paragraph, “It's important to note that while I can provide valuable information and assistance, I should not replace human teachers and their expertise. Teachers play a crucial role in guiding students, fostering critical thinking, and providing personalized support. Integrating AI technologies like mine into the classroom should be done in a way that complements and enhances the educational experience while ensuring human oversight and interaction.”
I also asked if it was academically dishonest to use ChatGPT: “The use of AI tools like ChatGPT for writing assignments can raise ethical considerations, particularly when it comes to academic integrity. It is essential to understand the policies and guidelines of your specific educational institution regarding the use of AI and automated tools.” It elaborated on plagiarism “Simply copying and submitting AI-generated content without proper attribution or without engaging in the writing process yourself would be academically dishonest and considered plagiarism. It is important to use AI tools as a reference or a source of information rather than relying solely on them to produce your work”. ChatGPT’s ‘opinion’ on its use to cheat is very similar to what Quigley said about plagiarism “if they don't cite it, yeah, technically it's plagiarism because some other entity, or some other corporation created it”.
I asked 11th grader Cotler Olson how he used ChatGPT, “Honestly, sometimes I just use it as my Google search engine.If my dad asked me a question or something, I usually use ChatGPT”. Olson also thinks “it should be allowed to be used, but like anything, it can't be abused. At the end of the day, you can't plagiarize. If you look up how George Washington died and you use the source, you can't copy and paste it. … But if you can source it, or if you can provide the source, I think there's some really viable, good information on that”.
A question I have heard is does ChatGPT plagiarize from other sources. I ask GPT this in my interview, this is its full statement “As an AI language model, I don't have direct access to information, databases, or sources such as books, articles, or websites. I have been trained on a mixture of licensed data, data created by human trainers, and publicly available data. My responses are generated based on patterns and examples in the training data I have been provided. When providing information, I strive to generate original responses. However, I should note that there is a possibility that the responses I generate may occasionally resemble information from publicly available sources or contain common knowledge. In such cases, it's important to consider the information I provide as a starting point for further research and verification. It's always good practice to properly attribute and cite sources when including information in academic or research work. If you are using information obtained from external sources, it's important to independently verify and ensure the accuracy and reliability of that information.” You can read my full interview with ChatGPT here.
When I asked Halsted if and how it should be used in school he said, “I have not yet figured out a way where it can positively impact kids, unless there are like… I don't know. I have not thought about it in that context at all. All I've thought about it is a way for kids to avoid doing their own authentic work. So that's all I really viewed it as.” Is is Hackett’s response to the same question; “ the development of AI, it can be used very easily for developing lesson plans "and creating like, not readable per say,but creating a more understanding environment or students that can't quite understand whether it be old literature or more like, harder to understand topics. I feel like it could be easy to summarize it. I don't really think it should be used like cheating tests”. I also asked ChatGPT to in one sentence if it is a useful tool for in school “Yes, ChatGPT can be a useful tool for schools, providing valuable information, writing assistance, and promoting learning, but it should be used responsibly and in accordance with educational guidelines”. I agree with GPT’s response, AI is a very new and extremely useful tool that needs to be now figured out if it can be used within the classroom and school policies.
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