Overconfident with ChatGPT and Generative AI – Time for our Reality Check
Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) have been highly anticipated and with their easy accessibility, they promised a lot. However, as we integrate these new technologies into our classrooms, we must remember to evaluate their impact on student learning and academic integrity.
As educators, we need to explore the capabilities of AI from both the student and teacher perspective. It is essential to understand that while these tools can help produce descriptive knowledge, they must be used with human oversight and not relied upon to take responsibility for the output or ownership of the work.
When we allow students to use these tools, we must ensure they understand that AI cannot eliminate the need to understand course materials or concepts and that fact-checking, coherence checking, and sense-making are core skills in most future roles that a machine cannot do.
Furthermore, for students who use translation tools, it is crucial to recognize that these tools do not have cultural humility or sensitivity. It is essential to use these tools with integrity and knowledge and not to rely solely on them to produce accurate content.
As academics, our role is to adapt and ensure our students can use newer technologies in productive and ethical ways in their future work and beyond. We must teach our students to recognize their overconfidence bias with AI and learn to use it with integrity, recognizing its limitations.
While Generative AI offers many benefits, it cannot replace human empathy, insight, reasoning, and logic. It cannot contextualize information in an integrative manner or fact-check for inaccuracies or discriminatory content. As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure our students use AI appropriately and ethically, recognizing its limitations and impact on academic integrity.
In conclusion, it is crucial to remember that AI is a tool, and like any tool, it has its limitations. We must use it with integrity and knowledge and not rely solely on it to produce accurate content. AI can assist us in many ways, but it cannot replace the essential skills we develop through our own critical thinking, analysis, and insights.
