The rise of generative artificial intelligence, which underlies software that creates words, texts and images, is sparking a pivotal moment in education. Chatbots can craft essays, poems, computer code and songs that can seem human-made, making it difficult to ascertain who is behind any piece of content.
Yet educational experts say the tensions erupting at Texas A&M lay bare a troubling reality: Protocols on how and when to use chatbots in classwork are vague and unenforceable, with any effort to regulate use risking false accusations. In response to concerns in the classroom, a fleet of companies have released products claiming they can flag AI generated text. Plagiarism detection company, Turnitn.com unveiled an AI-writing detector in April to subscribers. A Post examination showed it can wrongly flag human generated text as written by AI.
But as ChatGPT use spreads, it’s imperative that teachers begin to tackle the problem of false positives, said Linkletter. At Texas A&M, there is still confusion. Mumm offered students to a chance to submit a new assignment by 5 p.m. Friday to not receive an incomplete for the class. “Several” students chose to do that, Johnson said, noting that their diplomas “are on hold until the assignment is complete.”