ChatGPT threatens classroom integrity

FROM PG. 1

But where ChatGPT can be helpful, it also can be misused and threaten academic integrity — especially in classes that involve writing, such as English or history classes. For any given essay, a prompt can be easily pasted into the so ware to generate unique — but not authentic — essays in seconds. To mitigate the potential for cheating, Advanced Placement (AP) Literature teacher Timothy Larkin has implemented even more inclass pencil-and-paper writing assignments.

“[ChatGPT is] much more sophisticated than [getting information o of Google]. I have been shi ing towards in class writing for a long time rather than take-home essays — it’s obviously very hard for me to control the variables,” Larkin said. “ e skill of being able to [write] something — dra it, edit it, polish it, publish it — that’s a really important skill that’s getting harder and harder to teach if you can have a computer to do it for you.”

With the so ware being still relatively new, the school and district administration have yet to formally discuss how and if the school will address ChatGPT, according to Assistant Principal Jenny Gibson.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before another app is going to be able to detect ChatGPT,” Gibson said. “Right now we have Turnitin and other so wares that are able to detect plagiarism and cheating on the web, and in the future, will have capabilities [to detect ChatGPT].”

Some schools, such as New York City public schools, have already taken action against the so ware and outright banned ChatGPT from school devices and WiFi networks — citing negative impacts on student learning and the safety and accuracy of content.

“I think for a while, people, especially teachers won’t know how to use [ChatGPT] well, and it will get regarded as just anoth- er gene device,” Teitelbaum said. “I do think there are many good, ethical and helpful ways to use it, especially to help learn but I think for a while, people aren’t going to realize that and utilize those capabilities.” ough ChatGPT is not without aws, like most technologies, it will likely continue to improve, becoming more relevant in the future and potentially making an even greater impact on English classes.

“It may actually have the potential to usher in a new wave of focus on creativity. If technology exists for anybody to put forth a perfect ve-paragraph essay that details the exact reasons for something, then [essay writing is] going to be less and less important,” said Larkin. “What’s probably more and more important is ways to think outside the box, ways to be a divergent thinker, ways to be more creative — activities that a bot can’t do.”