As impressive as AI-generated writing just like the one produced by ChatGPT, report has it that overt reliance on the machine-generated text will encourage brain drain and affect education.
Reports of students using AI to do their homework have prompted teachers to rethink how this new technology will affect students’ performance. Some teachers are of the opinion that this language model can plagiarize existing work or encourage students to cheat.
“We made ChatGPT available as a research preview to learn from real-world use, which we believe is a critical part of developing and deploying capable, safe AI systems. We are constantly incorporating feedback and lessons learned.
We’ve always called for transparency around the use of AI-generated text. Our policies require that users be up-front with their audience when using our API and creative tools… We look forward to working with educators on useful solutions, and other ways to help teachers and students benefit from AI.” according to an OpenAI spokesperson.
According To Gary Smith, a professor of economics at Pomona College, he asserts:
As impressive as AI-generated text in academic research, here’s a reminder that they lack understanding compared to real human writing.
“If you play around with GPT-3 (and I encourage you to do so) your initial response is likely to be astonishment… You seem to be having a real conversation with a very intelligent person. However, probing deeper, you will soon discover that while GPT-3 can string words together in convincing ways, it has no idea what the words mean,” he wrote.
“Predicting that the word down is likely to follow the word fell does not require any understanding of what either word means – only a statistical calculation that these words often go together. Consequently, GPT-3 is prone to making authoritative statements that are utterly and completely false.”
Now OpenAI is reportedly working to develop “mitigations” that will help people detect text automatically generated by ChatGPT. Being able to distinguish between writing produced by a human or machine will change the way it can be used in academia. Schools would be able to enforce a ban on AI-generated essays more effectively, or more willing to accept papers if they can see how these tools can help their students.