ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that has the capability to generate essays and write computer code. Since its release for public testing late last year, it has raised concerns about students using it to complete their homework, leading to some secondary public schools banning it and college professors changing their course assignments.
Understanding ChatGPT’s language model
In an interview with News Bureau arts and humanities editor Jodi Heckel, Ted Underwood, a professor of English and information sciences and the associate dean of academic affairs in the School of Information Sciences, commented on ChatGPT’s place in higher education.
ChatGPT is not unique, and its technology has been around since OpenAI released the first version of generative pre-trained transformers in 2018.
Models like ChatGPT are already being integrated into word processing software and search engines.
The basic idea behind this technology is that a model is trained to predict the next word in an observed sequence of terms. When a user writes a short passage or prompt, the model can predict the next word in the sequence, and so on.
These models, also known as “large language models,” grew better at generalizing as researchers increased the size of the model. They are called “generative AI” because they don’t just analyze texts but use what they have learned to create new texts.
ChatGPT improves on earlier versions of this technology by training a model specifically to treat prompts as turns in a conversation and respond instead of just continuing a statement.
Impacts of ChatGPT on education
While some students are using AI models to help write their papers and do homework, which is a concern as it defeats the purpose of learning, we should focus on the long-term consequences for students. Students who enter college will likely graduate into a world transformed by artificial intelligence.
Models like ChatGPT are already being integrated into word-processing software and search engines. In 10 years, they will be as familiar as autocomplete is to us now.
A language model is a calculator for words. It’s a flexible little machine that can transform text.
Students will need to understand these models, and universities will need to offer courses and assignments that teach students how to understand these tools and use them in appropriate, creative ways.
While large language models are widely understood as writing machines, and people think that students will use models to write their term papers, or they will replace search engines, a language model isn’t a library or a copy of the internet; it’s literally just a model of language.
People will be disappointed if they expect the language model itself to provide knowledge. Instead of asking old questions for which answers already exist, we can use these models in more exciting ways.
For example, we can hand them new evidence that we want to be analyzed while precisely describing the analysis we want to perform.
Effective use of ChatGPT in learning
A language model is a calculator for words. The model doesn’t contain exhaustive knowledge. But it’s a flexible little machine that can follow verbal instructions, transform text, and think out loud in writing.
Large language models are not a substitute for human writing or knowledge but are flexible tools for transforming language.
It is not a substitute for human writing or human knowledge. Instead, it is a flexible tool for transforming language. We need to learn how to use them and use them for analysis more than we do for writing.
In short, educators should be worried about students using ChatGPT or other AI writing programs to write their research papers, as it defeats the purpose of learning.
However, instead of focusing on the short-term fate of assignments, we should focus on teaching students how to understand and use these tools in appropriate, creative ways.
Large language models are not a substitute for human writing or knowledge but are flexible tools for transforming language, and we should learn how to use them for analysis more than we do for writing.
