New York City schools are blocking student and teacher access to ChatGPT on its digital devices and networks.
The generative AI chatbot, released in November by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is able to generate compelling, structured answers to questions on a wide range of topics, including writing code to solve programming questions and write essays – as long as the question is about something that happened before 2021.
ChatGPT cannot access the internet to search for answers and its knowledge base does not include any events that occurred after 2021.
Make traditional homework obsolete
ChatGPT-generated answers have already been temporarily banned by developer Q&A site Stack Overflow because users were submitting quickly-produced, authentic-looking but low-quality answers that overwhelmed moderators. And so it is feared that students will start using ChatGPT to submit essays written by AIs.
The New York City Department of Education told Chalkbeat New York that it is restricting access to its networks and devices due to “negative impacts on student learning and concerns about the security and accuracy of content”.
The chatbot’s ability to write texts on many topics could make traditional homework obsolete, thereby doing away with an economically viable and long-established method of testing students’ knowledge and ability to express their ideas.
“The tool does not help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills”
“Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns about content security and accuracy, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New City public school networks and devices. York,” Jenna Lyle, a spokeswoman for the education department, told ChalkBeat.
“While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic achievement and lifelong success. lifelong.”
The impact of this measure on the risk of cheating in essays remains to be determined, since students can still access the site from their own devices and networks outside of school.
Teachers aren’t the only ones confused by ChatGPT. Google management is reportedly concerned about ChatGPT’s potential to disrupt search engine business. Microsoft, which has invested a billion dollars in OpenAI, could also use ChatGPT to improve its Bing search engine.
Source: “ZDNet.com”