Parents did you know that you can ask the new artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to write an academic essay? We asked ChatGPT to write an essay about the South African climate and it took 1 minute to give us an answer! So, how will this affect student’s learning? We believe that ChatGPT and AI are beneficial tools for students in school and that it should’t be banned in educational environments.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) known as a language model. It is trained on a large dataset of text and can generate human-like text when given a prompt. As the acronym suggest, Generative Pre-training Transformer, the AI tool is capable of text generation, language translation, dialogue generation, question answering, summarising, personalised tutoring and text completion. The tool is accessed via a search engine such as google chrome. Once on the webpage: https://chat.openai.com/chat the next step is to type your question/prompt into the chat box and hit enter for the results. In the chat you can ask several follow up questions to get a better answer. It is as easy as that!
What are the benefits of ChatGPT for students?
As mentioned we believe that ChatGPT and AI are beneficial tools for students. The tool can assist students with the following 6 sections:
- Essay writing assistance in generating ideas and organising their thoughts for writing essays and research papers.
- Homework help by helping students understand and complete their homework assignments by providing explanations and examples.
- Acts as a study aid through assisting students in preparing for exams by providing summaries and practice questions.
- Language learning by helping students learn a new language by providing translations and helping with grammar & vocabulary.
- Personalised tutoring as ChatGPT can adapt to each student’s learning style and level. However if you would prefer a human tutor, sign up for one with LDT Learning Solutions.
- Time-saving resource as students can quickly search and receive answers therefore allowing them to focus on more complex tasks.
Examples of how to use ChatGPT in an educational environment.
During 2023 the uses and applications of AI and ChatGPT will evolve in the education sector and in society. The Van Andel Institute suggest using ChatGPT to get curious, wild and authentic. This means that students can independently foster their inquiring mind and curiosity.
Inquiry based projects – a practise that promotes development of student curiosity – is perfect for using AI. This platform allows students to ask more questions and follow their own path of interest and investigation. All a student needs to do is type a question into ChatGPT and the AI tool will promptly produce and answer.
The dataset of ChatGPT allows for learners to search for methods to make their projects more efficient. For example “if students are creating a commercial to raise money for a cause about which they’re passionate, improving the quality of their script through the use of AI can allow them to be more effective fundraisers. Or if they’re writing letters to Congress arguing for a particular policy that they’ve researched, they could craft more persuasive arguments. ChatGPT also does a surprisingly good job of creating code — if your student wants to develop a simple game to help share a concept or engage people in their learning, they can use AI as their own personal programmer.” – VAI
ChatGPT can assist students with essay writing by providing suggestions for organization, grammar, and style. It can also help with brainstorming and generating ideas for essays. Additionally, it can help with research by providing relevant information and sources on the topic. However, it’s important to note that ChatGPT is a language model and it’s generated text should be proofread and edited by the student to ensure accuracy and originality.
What are the concerns about ChatGPT for school students?
We have just shared how ChatGPT can be used as an aid for essay writing and you must be thinking “Ummm, can’t my child just get ChatGPT to write the essay and copy & paste for submission?” Yes, you child can do that but trust me as a teacher, we can pick up if it is the child’s work or not! Just to prove our point here are 5 common concerns about ChatGPT for school students directly from the source itself:
- Plagiarism: Students may use the generated text as their own work, which is considered plagiarism and can result in disciplinary action.
- Lack of critical thinking: Students may rely too heavily on ChatGPT for their essay writing and not develop their own critical thinking skills.
- Inaccuracy: ChatGPT is a machine learning model and may generate text that contains inaccuracies or errors. It’s important that students review and verify the information provided by ChatGPT before using it in their work.
- Limited understanding: ChatGPT may not fully understand the nuances and context of the topic and provide irrelevant information.
- Lack of originality: ChatGPT can generate text based on a given prompt, but it may not be completely original as it’s based on pre-existing text.
Although there are concerns about AI tools, at LDT Tutors we do believe in adapting to technology and teaching students how to correctly use online resources/technology. This blog series will expand into how to teach your child to use AI tools as an aid and not a shortcut or cheating tool.
Wrapping up
ChatGPT and AI are beneficial tools for students in the essay writing process by providing suggestions for organisation, grammar, and style, helping with brainstorming and generating ideas, and providing relevant information & sources. However, it’s important for students to use ChatGPT responsibly and not rely on it too heavily, as it can lead to plagiarism and lack of critical thinking skills. It’s also important to review and verify the information provided by ChatGPT before using it in their work. Furthermore, as technology continues to evolve, it’s important for students and teachers to stay informed and adaptable to new technologies in the education industry. By doing so, they can effectively utilise new tools to enhance the learning experience and stay ahead of the curve.
