Assignments Get A+, Personal Statements Flow Smoothly... Schools and Companies Helpless Against AI

Cases of Academic Misconduct in Domestic Educational Institutions Revealed
ChatGPT-Written Resumes Also a Future Social Issue
"Not How to Prevent, but How to Utilize"

As the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT rapidly spreads, there are growing expectations that it will be actively utilized for assignments and exams at domestic universities. Meanwhile, university authorities in South Korea are being criticized for having virtually no measures in place against such 'AI ghostwriting.'

With domestic university students already using ChatGPT for assignments, reports, or even writing self-introduction letters, university officials are on high alert as the spring semester approaches.

ChatGPT, released in the United States at the end of November last year, has demonstrated the ability to generate language and reason on its own, enabling it to write papers and assignments in various fields at a fairly high level.
[Image source=Reuters·Yonhap News]

At Seoul National University, recent discussions have begun on countermeasures, including the development of tools to prevent cheating using ChatGPT, in collaboration with the university’s AI research institute.

On the other hand, Yonsei University, Korea University, Hanyang University, Kyung Hee University, and others are aware of the situation but have yet to establish clear countermeasures.

ChatGPT, launched in the United States at the end of November last year, has demonstrated the ability to autonomously generate language and reason, enabling it to produce papers and assignments at a fairly high level across various fields. In response, some American schools have introduced programs like 'GPTZero' to detect such usage.

Some university professors have individually notified students of bans on using ChatGPT. One professor included a warning in the spring semester syllabus stating, "Pasting ChatGPT-generated content into assignments and exams is not allowed."

Regardless of universities’ concerns, ChatGPT has rapidly become a major topic of interest among students themselves. Online communities for each university frequently feature posts sharing experiences with ChatGPT or asking whether it is acceptable to use it for assignments in the new semester.

On Seoul National University’s Everytime platform, a student recently posted, "Is it possible to replace assignments with ChatGPT?" and another wrote, "I can just leave the English writing assignments to ChatGPT."

Some students have questioned the notion that using ChatGPT for assignments constitutes 'plagiarism' or 'cheating.'

Another student on Seoul National University’s Everytime wrote, "I submitted a seasonal semester assignment using ChatGPT. The result was an A+," which prompted an anonymous comment asking, "Is this really plagiarism? If so, whose writing was plagiarized?"

International School Students in South Korea Receive Zero Scores for Using ChatGPT to Ghostwrite Assignments

[Image source=AFP·Yonhap News]

At an international school in the Seoul metropolitan area, all students who submitted English essays written using GPT were given zero points.

According to a report by Dong-A Ilbo on the 8th, seven students at an international school in the Seoul metropolitan area submitted English essay assignments written with the help of ChatGPT late last month.

The school discovered the use of ChatGPT through a teacher’s program designed to detect AI usage in assignments and assigned zero points to all involved students. However, no additional disciplinary actions were taken against them.

The school stated, "We have been closely monitoring issues of ghostwriting and plagiarism even before the AI usage controversy arose. We plan to use plagiarism detection programs to ensure students receive fair grades on their assignments."

This is the first confirmed case of ChatGPT-related cheating at a domestic educational institution. In the United States, the increasing use of ChatGPT for assignments has become a social issue.

Not Just an Educational Issue but a Social Problem... Need to Find Ways to Utilize It

There is a view that instead of trying to prohibit the massive wave of innovation brought by ChatGPT based on past standards, it should be guided in a direction that is helpful.
[Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News]

The controversy surrounding ChatGPT is not limited to the education sector. As ChatGPT gains global popularity, it is also expected to be actively used by test-takers and job seekers for writing self-introduction letters.

This has raised concerns about 'ghostwriting' of self-introduction letters. However, legal experts generally agree that the likelihood of criminal prosecution is low.

According to the legal community, under current law, submitting a self-introduction letter written by someone else to a company or school can be punished as obstruction of official duties or business interference through deception. However, this applies only when a third party, not the individual, has written all or most of the letter?i.e., ghostwriting.

If a test-taker or job seeker writes a self-introduction letter with the help of ChatGPT but revises or adds to the content to a certain extent, it is considered 'editing' rather than 'ghostwriting.' This is not punishable under current law.

Submitting a self-introduction letter written 100% by ChatGPT to a university or company could lead to prosecution for business interference, but proving guilt in court is expected to be challenging.

To prove ghostwriting in court, evidence such as testimonies from involved parties, messenger conversations, or financial transactions is required, but securing such evidence is difficult when ChatGPT is used.

Although there are programs to detect ChatGPT plagiarism, there is still ambiguity about the criteria for what constitutes punishable 'plagiarism' in self-introduction letters written based on each applicant’s personal information and experiences.

Meanwhile, some argue that the social issues brought by ChatGPT should not be suppressed by outdated standards but rather guided toward beneficial uses. Instead of outright banning AI use, it is necessary to teach and learn coexistence methods that wisely utilize AI in line with technological advancements.

Kim Jin-hyung, former director of the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, said, "Stopping the use of ChatGPT is no longer feasible. The situation has changed." He added, "Instead of trying to block its use, we should teach how to use it well," advising that educators and experts should discuss not 'how to block it' but 'how to utilize it.'"

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