With the introduction of ChatGPT, the use of AI to produce texts has become even more accessible to a wide audience. It is an interesting technological development that we as a university are following closely.
There are pros and cons to this particular use of AI. Together, we must ensure that we make the most of its opportunities, while creating the right frameworks for its ethical use. Our e-learning specialists recently wrote an interesting article on the opportunities of AI for education, see also this news item. In it, they discuss the versatility of the application.
Plagiarism and fraud
The discussion around ChatGPT often revolves around plagiarism and fraud. Students can use AI-generated texts in different places. Plagiarism occurs when students present work they have not produced themselves as their own. This also applies to texts generated by AI.
We closely follow the development of tools to identify AI-generated texts, such as the AI Text Classifier. These help to identify AI texts quickly and easily. At the moment we could also countermeasure possible plagiarism using ChatGPT by altering our assignments to include very recent data (the most recent data in ChatGPT is from 2021) so that the tool is unable to generate an answer. But as these AI developments grow, this is most likely not a very sustainable approach in the longer term.
Keep up with technology
Since the first version of ChatGPT, the development of this tool has been exponential. For this reason it is difficult to predict what to expect exactly. But it is highly likely that the next version would be a similar leap forward for this technology. These types of advanced technology will not go away, but will continue to grow. From an educational perspective, it has always been important to be able and adapt to new technological developments. This evolution of our education will have to be developed in the long run.
In the coming period, we will further investigate whether and how the regulations within UT should be adapted to ensure the ethical use of AI within education. It must be clear to everyone what is and what is not desirable. Our experts are closely involved in the joint initiative of universities and SURF to get a better grip on the topic.
