Chat GPT has entered the chat

By Will Tallman

At Sauk Valley Community College, the emergence of AI chat programs in the past year has captured the attention of students and teachers alike. “It’s easy to use and [writes] a paper in minutes that I would spend hours on,” said one student, who agreed to be interviewed under the condition of anonymity. “I’ve never used it [for assignments],” they explained. “But I know other people who have.” The fact that an SVCC student wished to remain unnamed when discussing their thoughts on this issue only further illustrates the dispute surrounding ChatGPT.

This relatively new technology has become a subject of controversy in the educational system, and according to some faculty members, navigating these newfound waters is a difficult task. In an interview about ChatGPT, SVCC English professor Karen Abele remarked that “I see the use of ChatGPT as devaluing the creative process that is the core of writing. I’m concerned about the idea that a student could potentially graduate from college without learning how to write effectively if we switch our focus from teaching students how to refine their writing to simply teaching them how to write prompts and allowing AI to generate their papers.” She went on to say that “In the long-term, it seems as though most of our communication with one another will become inauthentic as we will no longer be the creators of the content.”

These sentiments echo the broader social conversation surrounding AI chat software. Professors are burdened with mitigating a new threat to academic achievement and possess few tools to do so. When asked how she deals with students utilizing ChatGPT to generate essays, Abele commented that she “[tries] to emphasize that I’m interested in their perspective on the subject. I still believe that the ability to communicate one’s ideas clearly and concisely is an important aspect of developing critical thinking skills.” What is clear from these comments is that some faculty members believe that students’ academic experience is being devalued by using ChatGPT technology.

This unsettling news is echoed on various social media platforms. Earlier this year, an educator posting on Reddit wrote “I teach community college and just learned about this bot writer today. I've heard about sites that can test for this but have yet to find a good one. Is there any way I can do a quick check for this as an educator?” The responses offered little to ease teachers’ minds. One response from a fellow educator stated “If someone spends a small amount of time playing with [Chat GPT] you won’t be able to tell…I’ve throw[n] in links to sources and come up with a thesis and asked it to write an essay, and it’s not bad. Assessment as we know it is over.”

Considering that the essay format plays a crucial role in the pursuit of any college degree, we are left with more questions than answers. Whatever the future holds, programs like Chat GPT are seemingly here to stay, for the better or worse of the educational system.