After OpenAI introduced its first artificial intelligence (AI) model in December of 2022, the world fell under its spell. What took tens of minutes, hours, and days now took seconds due to ChatGPT. But with one issue solved, another one arose. Despite our arduous tasks being completed in a fraction of the usual time, educators and professors began facing a grave problem.
The origins of AI can be traced to 2015, when a cohort of motivated individuals, including current head Sam Altman, collaborated on an artificial intelligence project that could help our society. In three years, the first model was produced, GPT-1. Although flawed, the product could still predict sentences and generate paragraphs. GPT-2 soon rolled out in the next year and proved more successful amidst the remaining limitations. In 2020, GPT-3 debut. With an increasingly diverse dataset, the ability to write code, and create cohesive text, GPT-3 was well-received by the public. OpenAI then used GPT-3.5 as the most recent foundation for the most ground-breaking fad: ChatGPT.
Its initial impact was revolutionary. The possibilities were, quite literally, endless. Think drafting emails. Think copywriting and brainstorming for articles. Think back to education, drafting essays and completing homework. Think the entertainment industry and directors using AI to plot their scripts and dialogue.
Yet, the implications go beyond these surface-level topics. Even within these components, the effects have changed systems and current practices. At schools, ChatGPT use has been monitored closely since its inception. The impacts have been positive and negative. ChatGPT can assist teachers in lesson planning and creating educational materials. If teachers are perhaps confused on a topic or are dealing with a nuanced issue, ChatGPT could be at their call. Students can use AI to help them learn complex concepts in distinct methods. For example, a student, who is also interested in economics, learning how to draw resonance structures can have ChatGPT explain the topic in financial terminology and analogies. But the negative influences are more pronounced. With this dependence on technology, their problem-solving skills could take a hit. And with cheating capabilities, schools started to double down on AI. Software like Turnitin, used at Seton Hall Prep, will alert teachers if a writing assignment contains traces of AI-generated text. The English Department and other teachers at SHP resorted to in-class assignments and quizzes in place of online homework assignments.
In college and graduate school admissions, general AI usage plays a pivotal role. Especially relating to college essays like personal statements and school-specific supplemental essays, a student can use AI to write their essays with a simple copy and paste of the prompt and enter key. This is completely and rightfully advised against, though. Admissions offices have explicitly stated in every regard that AI-detecting software will catch AI-generated writing and flag it. Once an essay is suspected to be written using, for instance, ChatGPT, an applicant’s candidacy would likely be finished. So, it behooves applicants to write their own essays with their own ideas. It is simply the best practice.
On the opposite spectrum, Cal Tech’s application has a question asking if AI was used in any essence during the essay writing process. One position that arises is schools focused on STEM and proponents of newer AI models might want to examine how this technology is affecting applications. At the same time, other institutions focused on humanities would aim to avoid any trace of AI and instead encourage students to explore their authentic writing abilities. In addition, some admissions offices are employing AI to review applications. According to InsideHigherEd, fifty percent of offices are using AI in their processes, per a survey by Intelligent. On top, eighty percent are planning to incorporate these services in 2024. What could AI review? Heavy numbers-based documents like transcripts are at the top of most lists, along with surprising components including letters of recommendation and essays. Yet, according to all sources speaking on the nuanced discussion, humans make the final call on a candidate’s decision.
Schools and higher education admissions are just two areas in which AI has a wide range of impacts. The fact of the matter is AI and ChatGPT are not going anywhere. Its growth will be uncontrollable, and we should be excited for what is coming — within reason, though. We should not abuse these resources, rather we must embrace them all while maintaining our human features. After all, I could have authored this article with ChatGPT, but that would be taking away from doing something I love. So, even for the future of SHP, let us continue to utilize AI in revolutionary ways, but at the same time, revolutionize as humans of society.