Photo taken by SJ Hines of Molly Strong, Jenn Ryan, and Kim Pennesi in the Writing Center
Written By: SJ Hines
Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence software, has changed the game of originality and performance individuality. Before Chat GPT, educators only had to worry about students lifting exact quotes from books or articles online, successfully detected by sites like Turnitin or Grammarly. Nowadays, Chat GPT makes it easier to plagiarize others’ works–with just the click of a button or the typing of a quick prompt.
Dr. Emily Weirszewski of the English Department, along with other faculty members such as Dr. Dennis Jerz, Kim Penessi of the Jacqueline Weinmeister Brownlee Writing Center, and Dr. Joshua Sasmor, have gathered together in AI-specialized workshops to outmaneuver the rise in artificial intelligence.
When asked about the changes in the academic landscape, Dr. W answered, “I think it will change dramatically. I think it’s really important for folks in higher education and faculty and students to get ahead of it…We should be working together to think about ways it can be useful for us while pushing back what we know and our morals as critical thinkers…There’s a lot of examples of AI discrimination in the medical field and policing and it can be discriminatory…”
The mentioned workshops with different members of faculty have generated thorough discussion of using AI in education.
“All we’ve done was a couple of workshops to discuss what we’ve read and learned about Chat GPT–it’s really time consuming to keep updated with every little thing about the software…” Weirszewski explains. “We’re also thinking about bringing students into these workshops to hear their feedback, concerns and questions…We just need to work together on this…”
There is still hope for the future of education and that includes changes in teaching, in assignments, and the technology required for learning. Change is evident. Thus, the academic field as well as schooling are bound to change with the times. However, with change, comes better responsibility and accountability for how both students and faculty use Chat GPT and other AI software.