Are you concerned about the possibility of students using Chat GPT or other artificial intelligence tools to complete their assignments for your classes this semester? Curious about the possibility of making creative use of artificial intelligence in the classroom? Have no idea at all what “Chat GPT” means and need a quick primer? We’ve collected a few resources here that should give you a place to start.
What is Chat GPT?
As Emma Bowman writes in this NPR piece, Chat GPT is “a new artificial intelligence tool” which has “thrilled the Internet with its superhuman abilities to solve math problems, churn out college essays and write research papers”.
The best way to learn about Chat GPT is probably to try it out yourself (which you can currently do by opening a free account, although it is not clear how long the creators of Chat GPT will continue to offer it for free). This intro to Chat GPT was written by Chat GPT itself, in response to questions posed by Judith Dutill.
What are the implications of Chat GPT for college classrooms?
Chat GPT is such a new tool that it is still hard to know exactly what its implications will be for college teaching. This helpful piece from Inside Higher Ed offers reflections and advice from a range of academic experts on how “harness the potential and avert the risks of this game-changing technology”. This blog post by Autumn Caines raises some skeptical questions about the discussion around Chat GPT, as well as linking to other useful sources. Finally, this piece by John Warner (also in Inside Higher Ed) argues that we should take this as an opportunity to go back to some fundamental questions about how we teach and why.
Where can I find concrete suggestions and ideas for what to do in my own classes?
These guides from the University of Central Florida faculty center and Montclair State University Office for Faculty Excellence offer a range of helpful concrete ideas and suggestions for faculty. There will no doubt be many more resources like this coming out in the near future, so we’ll try to update this post as the discussion continues.
I’d love to hear about how other faculty at Sewanee are thinking about Chat GPT. Is there going to be any opportunity for me to do that?
Yes! The first Teachers’ Table of the semester will be on Thursday January 19th from 12:30pm-1:30pm in the McClurg ABC rooms, and we’ll be using the time as an opportunity to share ideas, questions, and concerns about Chat GPT. We hope to see you there!
Mark Hopwood, CfT Co-Director