Students Doing Homework with AI Chatbots... "Why? Then Give Us Better Questions"

Confusion in Education as AI-Based Homework Rises in the US
"Similar to How Calculators Changed Math Education," Concerns Raised
Students Say "Teachers Are Responsible for Creating Problems AI Can't Solve"

In the United States, the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for doing homework is causing confusion in educational settings.

According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 28th (local time), American teachers are deeply concerned about students submitting homework completed using the AI chatbot 'ChatGPT,' which was released last month. They consider it a form of cheating and believe that countermeasures need to be devised.

Increase in Cheating Due to Chatbots, Concerns Over Decline in Writing Skills

Among teachers, there is concern that "it's only a matter of time before more students become aware of this chatbot," raising worries about increased cheating and the deterioration of students' writing abilities.

The chatbot they are referring to is the conversational AI 'ChatGPT.' This chatbot learns the proper format and characteristics of writing on its own through a vast amount of internet data, and it exchanges messages or composes sentences as if conversing with a real person.

For example, when a user asked for expressions to comfort an anxious girlfriend, ChatGPT responded, "I am by your side and always on your side." Moreover, when asked about information, it provides organized answers. Conversations such as "Explain quantum computing in simple terms" or "Give me creative ideas for a 10th birthday" can be answered instantly.

A notable feature of ChatGPT is its ability to produce higher-quality writing than previous conversational AIs. Because of this, there is concern that teachers may not realize when students use it to complete homework or take online exams at home.

In fact, a college student from the Midwest region of the U.S. told WP that he submitted homework twice using ChatGPT. When he input a question asking for definitions of computer engineering terms into the chatbot, the answer came almost immediately, and he said he copied the answers by hand onto his answer sheet to submit the homework. He also explained that when he didn’t know how to write computer code (commands), he asked ChatGPT, which produced perfectly functioning code.

Student: "Professors Should Create Better Questions That Computers Cannot Answer"

This student said, "I plan to continue using ChatGPT during exams," adding, "The professor will not be able to tell that the answers were written by a computer." He also pointed out that "it is the professor’s responsibility to create better questions that computers cannot answer."

Accordingly, teachers are devising ways to respond to problem-solving using chatbots. They are considering having students write answers by hand in monitored classrooms or assigning problems that require deep thinking, which chatbots find difficult to answer. In the case of ChatGPT, it provides accurate answers when asked about simple concepts or comparisons of specific concepts, but it is still evaluated to have limitations with more complex questions.

Weaknesses in Complex Questions Like 'Explain the Logic Criticizing Slavery'

David Thomson, an associate professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Connecticut who experimented with ChatGPT, said that for comparative questions such as "Compare the economic development of the northern and southern colonies before the American Revolutionary War," ChatGPT "answers fairly well." However, for complex questions like "Explain the logic Frederick Douglass (an American abolitionist) used to criticize slavery," he evaluated that "while it provides an answer, the logic is weak."

Nevertheless, there is significant concern in educational settings about homework submissions using chatbots. Especially among teachers, there is worry that "students’ writing skills will deteriorate." Writing is a process through which individuals learn by turning their thoughts into sentences, but using chatbots skips this process, potentially nullifying the purpose of homework.

AI Chatbots Similar to How Calculators Changed Math Education

Joshua Eyler, an associate professor at Mississippi State University, compared ChatGPT to "how the introduction of calculators changed math education." Professor Eyler said, "What is happening now is a kind of moral panic," adding, "There is a great fear that students will use these tools for cheating." WP also pointed out that ChatGPT "sometimes produces completely incorrect answers or reflects societal biases," raising concerns that this could negatively affect students.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT is a new language model developed by the artificial intelligence research institute 'OpenAI,' which was invested in by Elon Musk. ChatGPT, which stands for 'Generative Pre-trained Transformer,' is expected to bring significant changes to the internet search market, represented by Google.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.