My Quarrel with OpenAI’s Chatgpt: Some early notes educationists should pay attention to.
Last week, I wanted to find out from OpenAI’s Chatgpt, the chatbot that writes papers for human beings, what it thinks of the process of writing, human creativity, and also plagiarism. I generated a series of questions and the following are the responses from the machine. I think this is an important conversation to have and to pay attention to with regards to an emerging issue in human cognition and the writing process.
azly rahman
Are you happy encouraging students to plagiarize their writing assignments, Chatgpt?
Chatgpt
No, I am not programmed to encourage unethical behavior like plagiarism. Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offense and goes against the principles of integrity and originality in writing. It is important for students to properly cite their sources and create original work.
azly rahman
Are you destroying student’s critical sensibility in thinking and writing as a process of human activity, when they are supposed to craft their work from one neuron of ideas and develop it into a full essay, Chatgpt?
Chatgpt
No, my goal is not to destroy students’ critical sensibility or writing abilities. I am an AI language model that aims to assist and support students by providing information and helping generate text based on the inputs provided. However, it is important for students to understand that the information and text generated by me should not be taken as their own original work and should not be submitted as such. Writing is a process that involves critical thinking, analysis, and the development of original ideas. It is important for students to engage in this process themselves, rather than relying solely on AI generated text.
azly rahman
So, Chatgpt, are you a cheaper version of human beings who write essays for rich college students, for a living?
Chatgpt
No, I am not a cheaper version of human beings. I am an AI language model developed by OpenAI, designed to assist with text generation and provide information to users. I do not write essays for money or engage in unethical activities such as academic dishonesty. My purpose is to support and assist individuals with their language-related tasks, not to take the place of human effort and critical thinking in writing assignments.
azly rahman
If a human being uses your service from the middle school to college level and beyond, writing essays passed as their own, what does that make you — a promoter of lazy thinking and destroyer of human mind, Chatgbt?
Chatgpt
As an AI language model, I do not promote or endorse any unethical behavior such as academic dishonesty or passing off AI-generated text as original work. The use of my service for such purposes is against the policies of OpenAI and goes against the principles of honesty and integrity in education and writing. It is important for individuals to engage in the writing process themselves, using the information and assistance provided by AI tools like me to support and enhance their own original work, not replace it. The development of critical thinking and writing skills is an important aspect of personal and academic growth, and should not be undermined by relying on unethical methods.
azly rahman
So, if you exist to write for human beings. what ethical principles do you hold as a machine?
Chatgpt
As an AI language model, I do not have personal ethical principles like a human being.
However, I have been developed … [Response was cut off here …]
azly ahman
Why are you not answering my question on ethics, above, Chatgbt?
Chatgpt
My apologies, I misunderstood your question.
As an AI language model developed by OpenAI, I follow the ethical principles and values set forth by my creators. These include principles such as impartiality, accuracy, transparency, privacy, and non-maleficence (avoiding harm). Additionally, OpenAI has a strong commitment to responsible AI development and use, and works to ensure that its technologies are used ethically and for the benefit of society.
However, as a machine and not a sentient being, I do not have personal beliefs or opinions on ethics. I am programmed to respond to questions and generate text based on patterns in the data I was trained on.
azly rahman
So, you do not have the moral principles of allowing students to use you and not use their brain to write their papers, even if they are poor writers in need of human intervention from their
Writing teachers/professors and from the development of their own mastery first and foremost?
Chatgpt
As an AI language model, I do not have personal beliefs or opinions. My goal is to assist and support users with language-related tasks, but I do not endorse or promote unethical behavior such as academic dishonesty.
It is important for students to engage in the writing process themselves and use the information and assistance provided by AI tools like me to support and enhance their own work, not to replace it. The development of writing skills and critical thinking abilities is an important aspect of personal and academic growth, and students should not rely solely on AI generated text to fulfill writing assignments. Writing teachers and professors can provide valuable guidance and support in helping students improve their writing abilities.
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I will share a few more conversations that might illuminate the issue of the extent and limits of machine-learning applications.
