ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI, which uses deep learning algorithms to generate human-like responses to text inputs. It has been trained on a massive amount of text data from the internet, allowing it to generate a wide range of responses to various questions and prompts. ChatGPT is commonly used for conversational AI applications such as chatbots, voice assistants, and customer service bots. It uses a transformer-based architecture, which enables it to handle long sequences of text, maintain context, and generate more sophisticated responses.
The paragraph above was generated by ChatGPT when I, as the user, asked, “Explain ChatGPT to me.” Although it uses a complex vocabulary, many people reading this article may feel like this paragraph seems natural and might have been written by an actual person. This is where the primary controversy regarding ChatGPT and other AI chatbots threatens to occur: many people, whether in the workplace or in an academic setting, now have the ability to use this tool to supplement their workload. For example, suppose a student wants to avoid writing an essay on a particular book. In that case, the student might ask ChatGPT, “Write an essay on Romeo and Juliet,” and the resulting essay would resemble something a real student could write. The rise of ChatGPT poses several important questions: How will people use ChatGPT in their academic lives? Is it acceptable to use ChatGPT as a tool for learning? In our opinion, we think that ChatGPT should only be used as a tool that could be beneficial in learning new material, such as compiling useful information to study for a test as a supplement, but should not replace how we learn and write essays.
We think that ChatGPT is an excellent tool for learning new material because it allows users to find out new information about topics they are curious about. It is especially useful because it can parse through a lot of information in a short amount of time and take out the crucial bits, saving you a lot of time. For example, it can derive information from the internet on many topics, such as a specific date in history or just general knowledge. However, suppose you do ask it a more specific question or ask it to analyze a quote. In that case, ChatGPT may fall short in terms of its accuracy and depth on the topic as it is generally unable to do a good analysis on its own, relying primarily on internet sources.
To learn more about how students can use this application in the classroom in a beneficial way, we talked to Mr. Bracken and Mr. Fulham. Mr. Bracken mentioned how ChatGPT is very good at defining terms and pulling big ideas and can be good as a research tool but lacks the understanding necessary to synthesize secondary sources. Mr. Fulham also mentioned that ChatGPT was great at base-level creative writing and answering highly specific questions. Both of these teachers thought that ChatGPT could be used to supplement learning but not to wholly replace learning to write essays because writing is an important skill, and ChatGPT is very general when responding to questions.
Although ChatGPT is impressive when it comes to facts and being able to craft a mediocre essay on the spot, it cannot replace learning how to compose an essay and form an argument. This issue brings up the fact that ChatGPT is always very general when it comes to taking a side on an argument or taking a significant fact and cutting it down to only its essence rather than the specifics. A great example that Mr. Bracken brought up was that, when writing an argumentative essay, ChatGPT always tends to take both sides rather than one decisive side. ChatGPT also poses the problem of tempting students to use the software to complete an assignment more quickly and with less effort. In our opinion, we think that ChatGPT should never be used in any assignment since it is not the student’s work; instead, it is the AI’s work. To get a sense of what teachers think, we also asked Mr. Bracken and Mr. Fulham about ChatGPT’s place in the classroom. Mr. Bracken felt that you should always check in with your teacher about the use of this AI and that you should never use ChatGPT in writing essays since writing is an important skill to have. Mr. Fulham voiced a similar opinion on the matter by saying, “The role of the education system is to make sure that people still have to learn how to structure an argument as well as their own ideas.” Both of these responses formed the consensus that you should not use ChatGPT to write entire essays because it hinders your ability to learn how to form essays, as well as many other skills that ChatGPT can affect if you get too reliant on it.
In the end, ChatGPT is just an emerging technology right now and will continue to grow, which means people’s opinions will also change in the future. There are many advantages to this kind of technology, and it might even end up on our phones soon. However, becoming too reliant on this kind of technology is something to avoid. For example, you definitely do not want to get used to having ChatGPT write whole essays for you, as it will hinder not only your growth in writing, but also the skills that are related to it, such as being able to process information and express yourself. We think the best thing to do about it right now is to try and get used to it as Mr. Fulham said. However, the way you go about doing this is critical. You should check with each of your teachers to see how you should and should not use it in that particular class, as Mr. Bracken said, and definitely make sure not to plagiarize anything from ChatGPT by presenting it as your own work.
