US universities are reconstructing their teaching methods after observing a wide use of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom. While grading essays for his world religions course last month, Antony Altmann, a professor of philosophy at Northern Michigan University, read what he said was easily “ the best paper in the class”. It explored the morality of burqa bans with clean paragraphs, examples & rigorous arguments. A red flag went up.
Aumann confronted his student over whether he had written the essay himself. The student confessed to using Chat GPT, a chatbot that delivers the information, explains concepts & generates ideas in simple sentences- and, in this case, had written the paper.
Alarmed by his discovery, Aumann decided to transform his courses this semester. He plans to require students to write first drafts in the classroom, using browsers that restrict computer activity. In later drafts, students have to explain each revision. Aumann also plans to weave Chat GPT into lessons by asking students to evaluate the chatbot’s responses.
Across the USA, Professors & administrators are starting to overhaul classrooms in response to Chat GPT, prompting a potentially huge shift in teaching & learning. Some professors, including those at George Washington University in Washington, are redesigning entirely, making changes that include more oral exams & handwritten papers in lieu of typed ones. The moves are part of an all- time grappling with a new technological wave known as generative AI. Some Universities like Harvard University said they planned to use detectors to root out Rene’s use of AI. Plagiarism detection service turnitin would incorporate more features to identify AI, including Chat GPT this year.
Universities are also aiming to educate students about the new AI tools. The University at Buffalo in New York & Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, said they planned to embed a discussion of AI tools into required courses that teach students about concepts such as academic integrity. “We want to prevent things from happening instead of catching them when they happen.,” said Kelly Ahuna who directs the academic integrity office at University at Buffalo. Generative AI is in its early days. At the lab, Open AI which released Chat GPT in November is expected soon to release another tool GPT 4, which is better at generating text. Google has built La MDA, a rival chatbot, & Microsoft is discussing $10 billion in Open AI. An OpenAI official said the lab recognized IRS tool could be used to deceive people and said it was developing technology to help people identify text generated by Chat GPT.
