Digest #168: Introduction to ChatGPT
(Cover image by Andrew Neel from Pexels)
Everyone is talking about it, but we may not yet fully grasp what it is and what it means for education: ChatGPT. ChatGPT stands for “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer” and is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot. This means that you can have a dialogue with an AI bot. It will provide you with answers to questions, statements, or commands which it constructs from rapidly searching a massive text data set and putting together a more or less coherent narrative. Some of the output it produces is surprisingly well written and fit for purpose. Other times, the output seems very superficial and less useful or even wrong. In any case, it is a development that we as educators need to be aware of and take into consideration when designing assessments and intended learning outcomes. This is not going anywhere and it looks like we are stepping into a new terrain in education. In today’s digest, we provide some introductory resources on ChatGPT.
1) ChatGPT explained: everything you need to know about the AI chatbot, techradar.com
A very recent article that provides an overall introduction to ChatGPT. How it works? Newest developments (up until today) and how it can be used.
2) How ChatGPT Can Improve Education, Not Threaten It, John Villasenor for Scientific American
The initial response from the education community was shock when it became clear what ChatGPT can do. However, slowly some acceptance has settled in and we may be ready to think more creatively about this. In this article a law professor from UCLA explains how he is guiding his students through the process of using ChatGPT for their benefit in learning.
Image from Pexels
3) ChatGPT is changing education, AI experts say – but how?, Deutsche Welle (DW)
This is a balanced article on pro and cons regarding ChatGPT. What can it do and where does it fall short? This puts the potential threat into perspective.
4) A new AI chatbot might do your homework for you. But it’s still not an A+ student, Emma Bowman for NPR
This article takes an interesting angle in the discussion and demonstrates the limitations of ChatGPT. Because ChatGPT is trained on text data and not all the text data is correct, it will sometimes combine content that does not belong together (e.g., make up references) in order to construct a nice sounding answer. So, prior knowledge on part of the human user is crucial and should not be underestimated.
Image from Pexels
5) ChatGPT: Education assessment, equity and policy, Rebecca Vukovic and Dominique Russel for Teacher Magazine
How does ChatGPT and a potential school-wide ban of that software affect equity between students? This interesting question is addressed in this article. The authors put forward a strong case against a general ban and suggest instead embracing these new developments.
From time to time, we pick a theme and provide a curated list of links. If you have a theme suggestion, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Occasionally we publish a guest digest, and If you'd like to propose a guest digest click here. Our 5 most recent digests can be found here:
Digest #163: LGBTQ-Inclusive Education
Digest #164: Sustainability and Climate Change in Education
Digest #165: Inclusive Teaching