ChatGPT might conflict with the human values of fostering creativity and learning from experience, but the only way to harness it is for academia to be transparent with this breakthrough in technology and re-evaluate its curricula contends Ana Sofia Bello, ESSEC Business School GBBA student CSR competition finalist. 

ChatGPT: Revolutionizing communication or threatening human interaction? by Ana Sofia Bello.

“We’ve never seen a technology move as fast as AI has to impact society and technology. This is by far the fastest-moving technology that we’ve ever tracked in terms of its impact and we’re just getting started” Thus Paul Daughtery, Accenture’s Chief Managing Director of Technology Strategy and Innovation, eloquently describes the breakthrough in technology that Artificial Intelligence has become.

Throughout the 21st century, the development of technology has evolved dramatically from the first iPhone created in 2007 to the development of iCloud launched in 2011 and now the public use of AI by ChatGPT in 2022. This extensive improvement in technology in less than 25 years is exciting and impressive but is also worrisome. This generation must not let the short-term benefits of ChatGPT and its future for AI blind us from the ethical issues that will arise, affecting the values that this generation and societies from around the world must uphold.

Revolutionizing technology

As mentioned earlier, the public use of ChatGPT is a tremendous advancement in the use of Artificial Intelligence. This application and other machine-learning-based language models are autonomously learning from online information “in order to produce seemingly intelligent original content” (Hoyos, 2023). Many industries now have the opportunity to benefit from the application’s abilities to create more efficient methods and increase business productivity.

The industries of finance, marketing, and policies can use the ability of “text classification” to easily “monitor, scrutinize, and understand public opinions and trends” (Hoyos, 2023). For example, Morgan Stanley, Stripe Inc, and Duolingo are already using ChatGPT 4 for organizing wealth management data, testing its ability to combat fraud, and explaining language mistakes to users in order to practice real-world conversation (Millson, 2023). Additionally, It has the potential to support the medical industry.

Seeing AI, an application launched in 2017 that won the prestigious Helen Keller Achievement Award, “uses the rear camera to identify and narrate the world around you” with the help of machine-learning models (Dürr, 2021). These breakthroughs in medical assistance can be dramatically improved with an increase in investment in AI. The final positive aspect of this AI tool is that it is an extremely advanced form of Google.

Many professors like Jacob Greene from Arizona State University, are not surprised at all by this innovation. You can do the same things on ChatGPT as you can on Google. The difference is that it is able to organize and filter through the data online at an incredible speed and generate an original response based on existing data (Tropiano, 2023). This revolutionary technology is just the beginning of the public use of artificial intelligence. With the public release of ChatGPT 4, it will not be long until these systems will be implemented in all forms of software.

ChatGPT: Hidden costs of efficiency?

It is wise to review the negative impacts of developments such as this since many naïve individuals will only be attracted to the “bells and whistles” that ChatGPT offers when the realistic effects of this program on our societies today must also be taken into consideration. The main reason why ChatGPT impacts this generation so much is the apparent presence it has in students’ lives. With the use of this tool, it is much easier to graduate from high school or college and possibly get a job. ChatGPT can solve mathematical problems, complete multiple-choice tests, write cover letters and academic papers.

In the past decade, there have been many scandals that have arisen regarding fraudulent university applications, whether due to students having connections or paying additional fees as a form of bribery, or for people to write their application essays. If these unfair decisions were considered a big scandal, why is ChatGPT not being treated the same? All students have to do is copy and paste any prompt, and specify the conditions it must follow and ChatGPT can generate a report in less than 5 minutes. Education is not going to hold the same worth as it did for earlier generations.

It will be incredibly easy to obtain a degree or certification in school with the help of similar AI tools. The decrease in the value of education is a very dangerous consequence of AI since it is a vital element of growing values, fostering creativity, and learning from experiences to develop one’s character and interpersonal skills.

According to Kyung Hee Kim, an accredited professor of educational psychology, a decrease in creativity is already in effect with the most recent generations. Kim conducted a study in 2012 and showed that there has been a “decrease in creativity since 1990…the skill of elaboration since 1985 and fluency, originality, and creative strength since 1990” (William & Mary, 2012). Consequently, the development of their neurological system will not be as healthy. Throughout their education, students are constantly developing different parts of their brains with their everyday interactions, challenging assignments, and making decisions.

With the use of this tool, this extensive use of brain activity will decrease more and more throughout the years. This will be the next challenge of ChatGPT. How can these AI tools be used to increase brain activity and creativity and create a more intellectually advanced generation?

Chat GPT: How do we move on?

With the comparison of the positive and negative consequences, universities must decide how they will handle the use of ChatGPT in their schools. Microsoft has already invested $10 billion into the company that created ChatGPT, “so it is likely that this software… will be integrated into Microsoft Word or Google Docs in the coming years” (Tropiano, 2023). Universities must learn how to monitor the use in schools so that this application is used for its true purpose.

Jacob Greene explains the uses of ChatGPT in his university courses and even goes to the point of instructing his students to use ChatGPT for assignments. His objective is to make his students aware of this technology and utilize it for its purpose. Professors and school administrators should follow in Jacob Greene’s footsteps because creating a restricting perspective on this service will only push students to use this app in the wrong ways. For the cases regarding fraudulent admissions essays, ChatGPT does allow users to input text back into its software to check if it has written the text before.

Unfortunately, this may not be effective since applicants can copy the text generated by ChatGPT and input it in a paraphrasing software so their plagiarism is seemingly undetectable. Universities can also be transparent and admit that this issue is occurring and will not be tolerated, so to combat it, universities can increase the personalization and intensity of their curriculum and admission process. ChatGPT, like other machine learning programs, will be more specific and accurate when there are many details and criteria provided by the users.

If assignments’ instructions and prompts are more personalized, then it is much harder for ChatGPT to provide qualitative responses. ChatGPT represents a significant technological advancement that has the potential to revolutionize the way our society interacts with information.

However, to move forward, society must view ChatGPT as a tool rather than a replacement for creativity and critical thinking. Now, Universities will have an opportunity to work with ChatGPT to create a more equitable, informed, and connected world.

• Link up with Ana Sofia Bello on LinkedIn
• Read a related article: What would Galileo say about students using ChatGPT?
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