The debate over using artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools such as ChatGPT continues to flare up across college campuses. Setting aside all issues with plagiarism, how important is it for college graduates to be able to write effectively on their own, regardless of whether they're writing a social media post, article, email or other web content?
Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ State Today invited Deborah Spake, Ph.D., dean of Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ State's Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, to weigh in on the impact AI versus human writing is having on the business world our graduates are now entering. Below Spake shares her point-of-view on this evolving technology.
As a business school dean, I often advocate for modern approaches to business education from new pedagogical approaches to the use of new technologies. We are, after all, educating students for jobs of the future and the future most certainly includes modern technology such as artificial intelligence (AI).
In recent years, I admit that I have been enamored with AI products such as self-driving cars, robots completing simple tasks, and voice-activated virtual assistants. I previously viewed these forms of artificial intelligence as modern conveniences with no downside to their use – a simple fact of our modern age.
For me, ChatGPT changed that paradigm. On the one hand, students should be aware of and proficient in the use of technologies that employers embrace. ChatGPT offers businesses the ability to quickly write for a variety of contexts from marketing messages to detailed reports.
On the other hand, its weaknesses are well-documented such as making up references or convincingly lying when at a loss for an answer.
Students using ChatGPT will need to develop the skills to identify and correct these errors.
While ChatGPT provides answers to inquiries, college graduates will continue to need higher-order thinking skills for problem-solving, strategic thinking, and synthesizing information from a variety of sources that might include ChatGPT. Educators today worry about students cheating by using ChatGPT, but are we missing the point? Should the real concern be the greater need to develop our students’ higher-order thinking skills so that they can effectively use AI tools and other technologies in the workplace?
Top photo courtesy: StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay.