How ChatGPT Will Change Education.

Science/Business | Imani Majors | January 11th, 2023.

How do you know if an invention could change everything? 

A month ago, ChatGPT, an AI chatbot system, was released that lets users type questions using natural language, and it will respond in an eerily convincing way. It uses a massive trove of information online to give primarily correct answers in a massive range of areas. It can answer anything from “Explain the 3rd amendment of the Constitution” to “Write me a college essay on resilience” to “Teach me how to make a PB&J in Victorian language.” The tool has gone viral and already has several million users finding new ways to use this system. So the question begs how will an AI system that can seemingly come up with an answer to everything change schools as we know them?

Teachers across the country are scrambling to prevent cheating, and school districts are still figuring out the policies they should set surrounding it. ChatGPT is especially challenging for teachers trying to catch plagiarism, as the A.I.’s answers are original, so they may not be flagged by plagiarism detectors. And while schools can block ChatGPT on campus, they must be aware that it is easily accessible on personal devices, and will never truly go away. Teachers are going to have to learn the language and biases that this chatbox will answer with, in order to best identify the difference between a real child's work and the A.I. 

However, it is important to use this incredible technology to both students and teachers advantage as it is here to stay. ChatGPT can provide baseline information in easy and understandable language so that students struggling with concepts can use it as an assistant. Teachers can also use it to their advantage, and use it to write things like lesson plans and work examples. Ultimately, adapting to this new and powerful technology is incredibly helpful for preparing both students and teachers for the future of learning and technology as a whole.