Artificial intelligence (AI) has been working its way into modern technology for decades now, but what does this new tech have in store for modern education?
Plagiarism is a hot issue when it comes to AI, many finding effortless ways to use AI like ChatGPT to draft their essays. Plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else’s work as passing it off as one’s own. While AI may not be a person, using its ideas as one’s own still count as plagiarism as it is not one’s original work. AI often looks to the internet to learn, meaning it takes from popular works and incorporates it into its own product. This makes it far too easy for an AI to plagiarize a real person’s hard work without giving any credit to the author or artist. Not only does AI itself plagiarize, but using AI in the classroom is also considered plagiarism.
About 27 percent of English teachers and social studies teachers are using AI in their work [Edweek.org]. The issue with teachers using AI is that it seems unfair for a teacher to be able use AI while also prohibiting the students from doing so as well. Students should not be using AI, but when they see their teacher using it, no matter the intent, a desire to use it themselves to make the work easier arises. Using AI in the classroom is risky as it’s putting a student’s hard work in the hands of a computer. This could lead to a student feeling as if their work is not valued or properly looked at.
During an interview with Mr. McAuley, we discussed his use of a ChatGPT AI he calls “Carl”. When asked why he uses AI in his classroom McAuley says, “It’s the only way within our structure to give feedback for something as long and involved as an essay”. McAuley uses AI to grade essays in his classroom as the AI is instructed to provide an exact grade based off a rubric McAuley creates as well as giving feedback to the student on how they can better improve. This method of grading essays proves to be time effective, as McAuley says that something he’s given in October might be given back as late as January. McAuley also says that he has no concerns about the use of AI taking away from teacher and student interaction as he always welcomes students to discuss their grades and feedback with him.
A teacher’s use of AI may be for just grading, but what about a student’s use of AI? While there are inherently safe ways to use AI, examples being language translation and grammar checking abilities, basing one’s entire work off an AI’s input is invalid and cause for concern. One’s work should be one’s own, one’s own thoughts and opinions, not that of an artificial intelligence. Using AI as the base of one’s work limits creativity and puts a damper on one’s mind. Being able to form one’s own ideas is critical for success in life, especially when it comes to young minds.