Educators scrambling to combat Chat GPT on college campuses

(NewsNation) — A new technology is challenging educators at all upper-grade levels, all around the world.

It’s called Chat GPT or “Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and it is an artificial intelligence tool that can be a real technological shortcut for anyone.

If you are having a hard time visualizing what it is exactly, imagine Alexa and Siri, and every intelligent being or machine rolled into one.

“You can give it an input and it will provide you with an output,” said Andy Patel, artificial intelligence researcher. “It basically, what it does is it continues writing what you gave it. If you ask it a question, it’ll answer it. If you ask it to continue what you’re writing, it will do that.”

For example, when AI is asked to create an outline for an essay about inflation and macroeconomics, almost instantly it starts churning out bullet points. That’s what’s made it so attractive to students, who can use it and avoid the heavy lifting of research papers.

Educators are now scrambling to combat the use of Chat GPT on college campuses.

The Stanford Daily reports that administrators are aware of the use of AI on campus, and teachers are changing their courses in case students are using it.

Chat GPT is convincing and widespread. The bot was able to pass four graduate-level exams at the University of Minnesota Law School, and a test at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, AI and the rise of robots comes just as major companies are slashing jobs.

Big Tech layoffs include Microsoft, which recently announced 10,000 cuts at the same time as a multiyear investment of billions in the California company behind Chat GPT.

“We are going to be pushed by the technology,” said Dr. Pengcheng Shi with the Rochester Institute of Technology. “I don’t think they will replace us, but they will replace a lot of the rudimentary works we have been doing.”

Shi believes AI will actually improve humankind, forcing us to adapt and think in new ways.

But for now, old-fashioned laziness is a factor.

Two new studies found that AI tools were able to successfully pass a Wharton MBA exam as well as a medical licensing exam.

While very effective, Chat GPT can be verbose and nonsensical. So human intelligence isn’t completely obsolete — yet.

“In the foreseeable future, three, five, 10 years from now, that AI system can improve themselves,” Shi said. “They no longer necessarily need us to improve the AI algorithm. They can improve themselves.”

Los Angeles and Seattle school officials tell NewsNation that the districts have already moved to block the use of Chat GPT.

New York City has also made a similar move, but detecting the use of AI remains an immediate challenge for educators.