ChatGPT and Cheating in School: A Modern Dilemma

It was the day of the final exam and Rachel was sitting nervously in front of her laptop. As she was taking the online test, she decided to take a quick break and checked her phone. She saw a message from her classmate with a link to a ChatGPT conversation where they had the answers to the exam. With a racing heart, Rachel clicked on the link and got the answers. She finished the test with ease, but she knew that what she just did was cheating.

Rachel is not alone. With the rise of online learning and remote exams, more and more students are using ChatGPT to cheat in school.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI-based chatbot that can generate human-like responses to user inputs. It can be used for a variety of purposes such as language translation, chat-based customer support, and even generating creative writing. However, its most controversial use is in helping students cheat in exams.

Real-Life Examples

In 2020, a group of students at a university in Thailand was caught using ChatGPT to cheat in an online exam. They created a chat group where they shared the exam questions and used ChatGPT to get the answers. This incident led to the university banning the use of ChatGPT in exams.

In the same year, a student in the US was caught using ChatGPT to complete a take-home exam. The student claimed that they didn't know that using chatbots to get answers was considered cheating. This incident sparked a debate on whether or not students should be educated on the ethical use of AI technology.

The Companies Behind ChatGPT

ChatGPT is developed by OpenAI, a research company that aims to create safe and beneficial AI. OpenAI was founded by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba in 2015. Initially, the company's goal was to advance AI research in a way that benefits humanity. However, it has faced criticism in the past for developing AI that could be used for harmful purposes, such as creating fake news and deepfake videos.

Critical Comments

1. While ChatGPT has many legitimate uses, its potential for cheating in exams is a concern for academic institutions. Technological advancements have made it easier for students to cheat, and it is up to educators to come up with effective ways to prevent this.
2. OpenAI has a responsibility to ensure that its AI products are not used for unethical purposes. While the company has tried to address this issue by limiting access to its most powerful AI models, it still needs to do more to prevent the misuse of its technology.
3. As AI becomes more powerful and ubiquitous, we need to think about the ethical implications of its use. It is important to educate students and society as a whole about the responsible use of AI technology to prevent its misuse.