You’re sitting at home, staring at the essay due in 12 hours. No words are coming to your brain.
You casually open up ChatGPT. It’s harmless, right? But, what if your teacher catches you? Could it affect the rest of your academic career?
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown significantly over the last year, according to Statista. The market for AI will also continue to grow through the next decade, with a value of two trillion dollars.
ChatGPT officially launched Nov. 30, 2022. ChatGPT can be used for just about anything–to solve a math problem, write an essay or learn about any moment in history.
It’s not as easy as it sounds, though. The use of AI, when not permitted, can have consequences. Many teachers have recently been cracking down on plagiarism in the classroom, and being caught can lead to many different consequences.
A new rule the school has implemented is that if a student is caught plagiarizing, it could have them kicked out of all the honor societies they are part of.
What is AI, and how does it work?
According to Tech Target, “Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines.”
AI can do just about everything a regular human can do, but quicker, and more effectively. For example, Alexa and Siri, facial and voice recognition and driving aids are products many people use daily that are considered artificial intelligence.
AI can be a very controversial subject. Some people fear AI and the power it holds, while others don’t think of it as much of a threat.
“As long as companies stop bugs and glitches, I think AI usage is relatively safe. I’m not too afraid of what AI could become because most of its data is from things online that already exist,” Lily Zhang ‘26 said.
Could this be the small start to something bigger and more dangerous?
But, AI hasn’t grown that big yet. One of its most common uses is in the classroom. According to Education Week, more than 4 in 10 students are likely to use artificial intelligence to do their school work. A regular use of AI is in English classes. Students can use AI to write their entire essay, and they only have to spend a couple of seconds typing the prompt.
There are many different views and opinions on this topic.
“As long as it’s helping people, that’s a good thing. But, when it’s doing the thinking for the student, that’s a bad thing. So as a teacher, it’s hard to find that balance,” English and Literature of Film teacher Andrew Watkins said.
Students receive help from a multitude of different websites. The difference between these websites and ChatGPT is that ChatGPT does the entirety of the assignment for the student. Students aren’t really learning much when the computer is doing the work for them.
AI has different pros and cons. It can’t exactly be labeled as good or bad, because there are so many different points of view.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!