Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), an interactive Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot, has been trending since the release of its fourth version this March. Unlike other AIs, Chat GPT can communicate fluently in many forms, from casual conversations to creative writing. Its sophisticated language skills prompt us to consider the future direction of our education. Therefore, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) would like to explore the concept of Chat GPT-4 and its meaning in our society, the controversies surrounding Chat GPT’s entry in EdTech, and suggest a future direction.
Chat GPT, a New Paradigm in Education?
-What Exactly Is Chat GPT?
Chat GPT is an interactive AI chatbot developed by an American AI research laboratory called OpenAI and was first released in November 2022. Before the emergence of Chat GPT, fluent conversations between AI and humans were challenging due to the irregularity of natural language structures. Previously, other interactive AIs, such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, were used widely, but Chat GPT is the first AI that communicates in a complete structure. Regardless of the format, Chat GPT can produce high-quality responses. It is not only capable of composing curriculum vitae and scientific reports but also creative literary pieces such as poems and novels. Such a breakthrough is revolutionary as creativity was considered a human’s own ability. Generating a complete conversation suggests that AI can replace the human ability to acquire knowledge, process information, and even think critically. Furthermore, Chat GPT-4, released this March 14th, demonstrated an outstanding upgrade in its image recognition and non-English language skills, making its internal assessment 40% superior to Chat GPT- 3.5, the previous version. With such an update of GPT’s foreign language proficiency, the pool of information and the demographic of its users is expected to widen.
-Chat GPT in Our Education
Due to the Chat GPT wave brought to fields of education, EdTech is under the spotlight. EdTech is a combination of Education and Technology, referring to the collaboration of software programs and the learning process. The industry will face huge impacts as Chat GPT can be a skilled AI educator. It can help study elementary subjects, correct English writing, and even solve math problems. Moreover, its teaching ability is broader than the public educational system. The chatbot facilitates the overall process of finding one’s interests and talents; hence anyone interested in finance, programming, or any other field can benefit from Chat GPT’s professional tutoring. It is also notable that Chat GPT enables hyper-personalized learning. Hyper-personalized learning is considered the core of future education and refers to studies based on a student’s data, such as their characteristics and educational level. It would be an ideal the education field has been pursuing as it enhances learners’ motivation and selfdirected learning ability.
An Emergency in Education
-Technical Problems Disrupting Education
Chat GPT uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand languages and communicate with humans. However, as the process is rather time-consuming, it disables the acquisition and application of real-time data. Currently, Chat GPT’s information is limited to the ones processed before October 2021, thus limiting the accuracy of its knowledge. Chat GPT’s reliability can also be challenged by the nature of the database it learns from. Since its database is generated by humans – who are imperfect beings – its data cannot be perfectly accurate. Therefore, it can sometimes respond with unreliable information when users use the bot as a search engine like Google. Another fundamental problem is that it exhibits human biases from its man-made database. Although AIs are considered impartial, current Chat GPT’s responses hold a liberal political orientation. As young students have not yet fully established their values in life, there is a risk that they might absorb Chat GPT’s biases. Moreover, Chat GPT’s accuracy and reliability are imperfect due to the Hallucination phenomenon. Hallucination in AI refers to the confident outputs they give that are not real. Unfortunately, the issue regarding these convincing yet completely fabricated answers is structurally inevitable. Also, concerns that Chat GPT can amplify or reproduce misconceptions, biases, and even fake news exists.
-Educators in Panic
Moreover, academic misconduct cases have upsurged due to the inappropriate usage of Chat GPT. Since the chatbot can produce high-quality responses regardless of its format, a great risk of plagiarism and academic integrity issues are emerging. In fact, such danger has already become a real-life problem in English-speaking regions. To prevent this, numerous educational institutions are trying to ban the use of Chat GPT. According to The Guardian, universities in the United Kingdom penalized students using Chat GPT for assignments. In Korea, its first academic dishonesty case was observed in an International School at Jeju Island, where students made use of Chat GPT for their assignments. In response, efforts are being made to ban Chat GPT in academic works by increasing sanctions and developing programs to detect plagiarism. Moreover, such misconduct issues from AI can fundamentally question the current education system, where documental tasks are the norm. As much as writing has been considered a common way of evaluating and developing students’ intellectual capability and creativity, upheavals in education are expected.
Teaching and Learning Will Change for the Better
-Chat GPT and Our Tomorrow
Since Chat GPT is a Large Language Model (LLM), not a thinking machine, there are a few inevitable limitations that are difficult to overcome. However, additional data and linguistic learning can gradually solve information inaccuracy and bias issues. Moreover, the improvement in Chat GPT’s foreign language skills and cognitive abilities is expected to increase its usability. To forbid hateful content, OpenAI is adapting Moderation API, a content moderating tool that aims to prohibit violent, hateful, and sexual comments on Chat GPT. Therefore, with the development of the moderation system, the AI chatbot is expected to become more user-friendly, further broadening the scope of its application. On top of Chat GPT’s technological development, it is vital to acknowledge its limits and learn how humanity can use Chat GPT cleverly as an apparatus.
-New Trend in Education
Chat GPT is an outstanding learner. It acquires knowledge through massive data training; thus, its learning ability has surpassed that of humans. Today, cramming is no longer an option in our educational curriculum. Therefore, educational experts are emphasizing the importance of teaching the proper use of Chat GPT to improve academic efficiency rather than simply banning them. This February, Professor Yang Jung-ho from Sungkyunkwan University said to Dong-A Ilbo, “It is more important to teach how to appropriately use AI instead of merely restricting them,” suggesting how the utility of new technology is an adequate way to adapt healthily to the fast-changing society. Furthermore, some universities are actively presenting guidelines for the use of Chat GPT. For instance, Korea University published a protocol that encourages students to compare their answers with the responses of Chat GPT. It also required students to bring research based on interviews and surveys so that AI cannot substitute their answers. Kookmin University also announced a list of ethical considerations, such as being responsible for selecting information and crediting the use of AI when submitting assignments. In the future, the ability to produce new values through integrating information will be essential rather than simply taking in information.
Soon, many more chatbot technologies that are even smarter than Chat GPT will emerge. Now it is vital to learn how to coexist with interactive AIs rather than unconditionally banning them. Therefore, instead of considering AI as a replacement for human intelligence, it will be necessary to accept them as a complementary tool. For future generations, the ability to make good use of AI will be a competitive advantage. Nevertheless, remember that Chat GPT is simply a language model designed by humans and that we Kingos are irreplaceable in any shape or form.