AI in Education

My blog post you’re about to read below took about 2 minutes for me to prepare… “How?!”, you might ask. “That’s lazy and short!”, you might also exclaim. The secret being? My blog post today was written by artificial intelligence (AI), specifically, a chatbot called “ChatGPT”, which can currently be accessed for free by anyone with internet access (however it may not be free forever, time will tell).

See the ChatGPT written post below and video of just how quick the process is.

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My question for Chat GPT

Write a blog post of approx 1500 words discussing the implications of AI and ChatGPT in education, for teachers and educational leaders. Discuss the pro’s and con’s of AI and the likely disruption it will cause. Discuss plagiarism concerns and submission of assignments.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming integrated into many aspects of our lives, and education is no exception. One example of AI in education is the use of chatbots, such as ChatGPT, which are designed to facilitate learning by providing information and answering students’ questions. While chatbots can be a useful tool for teachers and educational leaders, they also raise a number of important issues that need to be carefully considered.

One of the main benefits of AI in education is that it has the potential to make learning more efficient and personalized. Chatbots like ChatGPT can provide students with instant access to a wealth of information, allowing them to learn at their own pace and on their own terms. This can be especially beneficial for students who may have difficulty learning in a traditional classroom setting, or who live in areas with limited educational resources.

However, there are also a number of potential drawbacks to the use of AI in education. One concern is that chatbots may not be able to provide the same level of personalized attention as a human teacher. While they may be able to provide basic information and answer simple questions, they may not be able to provide the same level of support and guidance as a human teacher. This could be particularly problematic for students who need extra help or who have more complex learning needs.

Another issue is the potential for AI to disrupt the traditional educational model. As more and more schools begin to rely on chatbots and other forms of AI, there is a risk that human teachers could become obsolete. This could lead to significant job losses, as well as a decline in the quality of education. While it is unlikely that AI will completely replace human teachers in the near future, it is important for educational leaders to consider the potential implications of this technology on the teaching profession.

Another concern is the issue of plagiarism. With chatbots and other AI tools, it is easier than ever for students to access large amounts of information and to copy and paste it into their assignments. While it is important for students to be able to use outside sources to support their work, it is also important that they properly cite these sources and give credit to the original authors. Educational leaders need to be aware of this issue and take steps to ensure that students are using AI responsibly and ethically.

Overall, the use of AI in education has the potential to be a powerful tool for teachers and educational leaders. However, it is important that these technologies are used wisely and with a clear understanding of the potential risks and limitations. By carefully considering the pros and cons of AI, educational leaders can help ensure that this technology is used to enhance, rather than disrupt, the learning process.”

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Firstly, I was disappointed to see that the post written was only about 500 words, not 1500 words as I’d requested.

Even when I “regenerated response” and placed the word limit request at the end of the chat box, the length of 500 words remained the same.

I think perhaps this is the maximum word length for this free and basic version of the chat, and needs to be considered when entering parameters into the chat box. It would have also been possible to find a workaround for this by breaking my request into smaller sections, requesting quotes and references, and having ChatGPT develop the 1500 words over a series of posts, however, I wasn’t interested in exploring this further at this stage.

In a separate attempt, I was excited to copy and paste an old master’s University assignment of mine into the chat, and request that it provide a mark out of 100 and comments on the quality of the assignment, which it did!

What enormous implications this technology could have for marking assignments and providing feedback to students, a process which students could obviously complete themselves to improve the assignments they submit.

Needless to say, the use of AI at school needs to be addressed promptly by middle/high schools, Universities and education bodies before the return of school in late January (thinking NSW, Australia), as detection of plagiarism may not be possible and students will likely begin submitting assignments created by AI.

Students across Australia and the world will no doubt be aware of ChatGPT given it launched in late November 2022, and any assignments set to middle school/high school/tertiary students that simply require them to research and synthesize information will be at serious risk of being generated by AI rather than the students themselves. Some articles are predicting that universities are at the greatest risk of AI disruption.

Funnily enough, I have already seen posts on social media in recent days about a student who has created technology to identify if an assignment has been created using AI… it seems we may have an impending tech battle on our hands.

Within the social media music education groups, I am a part of, I’ve seen numerous high school teachers sharing their explorations of AI. So far these have included the creation of generic report comments, generation of responses to Stage 6 Aural Questions, i.e., “discuss the use of pitch and duration in an excerpt of …”, and even suggestions on how to teach and deliver musical content broken down into easy to explain steps. We are only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg here..

There are some other powerful tools available within the ChatGPT website, including a separate site called “OpenAI Discord”. Within this site are numerous “channels” where users can engage with others in areas of their interest, such as jokes, poems, education, science and technology, food, etc.

What I’ve found most fascinating are the artworks AI is able to generate and refine based on descriptions provided by the user, using the command “/imagery” within a channel called “Midjourney”.

See below an image I created on my first attempt at making a new stock image for Richard Gill School. Admittedly, the human images look slightly unusual, but overall the image is quite incredible given it’s been created instantaneously by AI from a basic description provided by the user.

My wife works in design and marketing, which could be an industry that experiences significant disruption in the near future. And when I say disruption, I don’t mean that in a negative sense, more that people in certain industries more susceptible to AI impacts will need to be agile and well-informed about how AI will change their work, for better or for worse. The fact that ChatGPT can create images and write content quickly and accurately should significantly improve a savvy marketing professional’s efficiency.

I would encourage every single person who works in education to access ChatGPT, create a user account, and experiment with it from the perspective as many stakeholders as possible.

I believe it is essential that teachers and educational leaders are familiar with this emerging technology to manage future scenarios, harnessing the enormous potential of the technology whilst ensuring current processes of learning and assessment are not compromised.

Could chatbots and AI replace Google search in the future?
What will the role of teachers and schools be as AI becomes more advanced and available?

No doubt many people have been considering these questions closely for many years already, but with the sudden emergence of ChatGPT being free and readily available, many systems and processes will need to quickly adapt soon to combat the emergence of AI in education.

Harvard Business Review has also just posted their thoughts on the impact of ChatGPT, which you can read about here.

In summary, Ethan Mollick writes:

“We’re hitting a tipping point for artificial intelligence: With ChatGPT and other AI models that can communicate in plain English, write and revise text, and write code, the technology is suddenly becoming more useful to a broader population of people. This has huge implications.

The ability to produce text and code on command means people are capable of producing more work, faster than ever before. Its ability to do different kinds of writing means it’s useful for many different kinds of businesses. Its capacity to respond to notes and revise its own work means there’s significant potential for hybrid human/AI work. Finally, we don’t yet know the limits of these models. All of this could mean sweeping changes for how — and what — work is done in the near future.”

Ethan Mollick, Harvard Business Review

When digging a little deeper, as an educator and also a human, I felt a sense of relief in finding out that many specialists are calling for ‘human-centered AI’ as a way to enhance experiences and access, not replace human interaction – and the need for balance.

Ryan Baker, an Associate Professor of Digital Media and Learning at Teachers College, Columbia University, has written and spoken about the use of AI in education. In his work, he highlights the potential for AI to personalise learning and make education more accessible but also cautions against the over-reliance on technology and the need to consider the ethical implications of using AI in education.

The promise of AI in education is to personalize learning and make education more accessible, effective, and efficient. However, the challenges are significant, including ethical and societal implications, the need for transparency and accountability, and the need to balance AI with human interaction and assessment.

Ryan Baker , Associate Professor of Digital Media and Learning at Teachers College, Columbia University,

We all know how adaptable and tech-savvy educators are as we’ve seen throughout the numerous waves of Covid, so I’m sure if we can get on the front foot we’re up to the challenge of AI to not only survive, but thrive and find incredible new opportunities for teaching and learning.

Prepare for change, educators, and good luck for an exciting 2023!

Chris English

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References:

Chat GPT
ChatGPT Is a Tipping Point for AI, 2022, Ethan Mollick, HBR.org
“Towards a Human-Centered AI for Education” Publication, Ryan Baker 2022.
Featured Image: Tetiana Lazunova/Getty Images