What started off as science fiction is now science fact, and students across the world are using it to evade homework. Ever since the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, the ease of essay writing has skyrocketed, as well as plagiarism rates in schools. With the availability of AI, the only thing standing between students and a hard-to-detect method of cheating is their own integrity.
For those who don’t know, ChatGPT is one of the most well-known online generative AI programs available. It can write almost anything you ask it to, and while most students probably find ChatGPT and other writing AI to be an easy solution to homework, it’s important to consider the effect this will have on one’s grade, academic record and future.
“If a student doesn’t get caught using [AI] in high school, what would be the consequences of using it in other places where it’s not just a grade? It could be someone’s career, someone’s collegiate integrity,” English teacher Stuart Egan said.
Additionally, ChatGPT and other systems have a limited number of responses, meaning one is likely to get the same or similar output as another user with the same prompt. Even not being able to understand your own writing can reveal AI use.
“A lot of it is really looking at the vocabulary and sentence structure, and does that really sound like that kid? I’ve had some conversations where I’ve said ‘read this and tell me what it means,’ and sometimes they can’t do that, and obviously this is not their work.” English teacher Kelley Miller said.
As stated in the Student Handbook, any assignment that was plagiarized is graded with an immediate zero and a referral to the office: both things that students should want to avoid.
Be aware, ChatGPT learns from its users, so think about how much you want to teach it.
This article was created by a real human being…
…Or was it?
