Will AI become a threat to education? Or will it become a helpful tool for learning in the future?
As we all know, the Internet has been shocked by this powerful phenomenon that suddenly appeared. By now, you’ve probably already heard about this one app, ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that was released in public late last year that can make an essay or assignment if you provide the problem into it.
Many students gave it a try; some of them used it purely for exploration, and some for the actual assignment given by their school. Some schools have already banned this new technology, saying that ChatGPT would steal the motivation of the students learning; while others are trying to embrace the technology by teaching students how to use it responsibly.
Teachers and students have argued about this chatbot and whether or not it can become a tool for education in the future. But here are some pros and cons of the technology if it will be adapted in the future of education.
Pros of ChatGPT
- Improve learning experience. ChatGPT can provide an enhanced learning experience for students. It may help answer queries, provide feedback on assignments, and assist in solving problems. It can also help students develop handwriting, practice quick thinking, and fight back against procrastination because it is quick and easy to use.
- A quick and brief explanation. As we come across an assignment or assessment, we have often been given a limited time to finish it. That’s one of the reasons why ChatGPT may be useful, it can give you a quick answer without you trying to think or search it one by one by yourself. Moreover, ChatGPT can use natural language processing to explain complex concepts to students in simpler words to be easily understood.
- Access to a wide range of resources. ChatGPT may assess you to various resources such as study guides, educational videos, and even practice for your exam. This can help you to learn more effectively and efficiently. According to studies, chatbots like ChatGPT have greatly improved learning by providing personalized support and guidance to students.
- Available 24/7. Even though the teacher is way more reliable than any internet source, ChatGPT can be helpful especially when you’re outside of school, perhaps on the weekends. Unlike teachers, ChatGPT is available 24/7, which means students can access it whenever they need help. Students with hectic schedules or those who often hesitate to seek help from teachers because of feeling embarrassed or ashamed may find this app extremely helpful.
- Personalized recommendations. The algorithms programmed for the bot can analyze your learning history and provide personalized recommendations based on your needs. ChatGPT can provide you with advice that may improve your performance. This means you can efficiently get the targeted points on specific things or areas that you want to improve.
Cons of ChatGPT
- Dependence on technology. Nowadays, society tends to easily embrace all of the new technological advancements in all aspects of human life. It may not be something new to them that a lot of people have used AI as ChatGPT. Students who rely too heavily on ChatGPT may become dependent on technology and lose their natural ability to solve problems on their own. Not to mention it also make the student lack the ability to come up with their original idea.
- Limited motivation, critical thinking, and creativity. Related to the previous one, Chat GPT is dangerous for motivation and knowledge. Students may think, “why would I write or do the homework if the bot can do it for me?” Furthermore, it may also reduce the capacity for critical thinking and creativity. ChatGPT is designed to respond based on pre-programmed algorithms, making it can answer questions but can’t provide the same level of creativity that a human teacher can offer. This can limit the depth of learning for students.
- False information. ChatGPT isn’t always correct; it can’t answer a simple logic question, fails at basic maths, and even argue incorrect facts. OpenAI knows about ChatGPT’s limit, saying that ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but nonsensical and incorrect answers. It is different from other AI assistants such as Siri or Alexa. ChatGPT doesn’t use the internet to locate the answers, it answers by constructing a word-by-word, making a series of guesses, and selecting the most likely answer which is why it sounded as if they were completely true.
- Copyright and plagiarism. Due to the Internet, copyright and plagiarism are major issues in learning environments. The best way to deal with this problem is to use detecting tools, such as Gramarly, Quetext, Copleaks, etc. Although ChatGPT text is only responding as the trained data, the copyright still belongs to the author. Therefore, it is important for the users to pass each content that is given by the bot through a plagiarism checker to avoid the risk of copyright infringement.
- Might not be secure. As with a technology that collects data, there are concerns about data privacy and security. ChatGPT may collect data from the students, and there is a chance they may be misused. The impacts of misusing this technology may summon a large consequence. The possibility is that ChatGPT can be used to generate malicious code which means more people can create malware and increase the number to more attacks. This means not just students, but every user here has to take full accountability, using the application wisely and ethically.
It may be true that ChatGPT can help you do your homework. It is inevitable for it to be happening, but you always have to consider the pros and cons of using it. You also have to be responsible, seeing it from a wider viewpoint and not limiting your learning capacity.
