{"id":32763,"date":"2023-09-03T23:20:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T06:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32763"},"modified":"2023-09-03T23:20:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T06:20:33","slug":"generative-ai-and-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/generative-ai-and-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Generative AI and Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

“Humans have been collaborating with technology for writing since sticks were used for drawing in sand or on cave walls.” [1]\u00a0<\/em>

The expanding use of technology in higher education is inevitable. The question is how to use it well. The most obvious pitfalls include the potential for plagiarism and consequently that students will undermine their own learning. Obviously, plagiarism is unacceptable on any level, but as far as students undermining their own learning, they may simply need help reframing. That is to say, they need to understand how tools like Chat GPT can be used as an aid to learning rather than a way to avoid doing their work.<\/p>\r\n


From the assigned video, another danger that David Boud mentions is a possible knee-jerk reaction on the part of academics that would bring about a regression to exam-based evaluations. In other words, if professors combat the possibility of plagiarism by reverting to in-person, hand-written exams, Boud laments this as a step in the wrong direction. Interestingly, he points out that the goal of education is to equip graduates for real-world tasks which certainly now include working appropriately with AI. We would do well to integrate these technological advances into higher education so that students learn to use them well.<\/p>\r\n


Indeed, as nearly all experts seem to agree, artificial intelligence and specifically Chat GPT is an inevitability. It is already a reality in higher education and many other fields. If there is no avoiding it, the best approach is probably to work with it, adjust our processes and procedures to account for it, and embrace its possibilities.<\/p>\r\n


The most obvious limitation is Chat GPT\u2019s tendency to hallucinate. Being \u201cprobabilistic\u2026generative AI doesn\u2019t live in a context of \u201cright and wrong\u201d but rather \u201cmore and less likely.\u201d [2] Factual inaccuracy is a serious limitation for students using AI as a research tool or a writing aid. Perhaps less obviously, hallucinations affect users in many other fields. For example, I was talking with a friend who is a computer programmer, and he shared his experience with Chat GPT. He has seen it respond to a prompt and produce code that appears perfectly reasonable. It can even explain the code in ways that sound cogent. But when my friend tried to run the code it was complete nonsense. In computer programming, as in disciplines like the humanities or social sciences, it seems unwise to rely on generative AI unless one is highly competent to spot the errors.<\/p>\r\n


All that said, there are numerous possibilities for appropriate and effective use of generative AI in a higher education context. As David Boud highlights, this technology could significantly help those with learning difficulties. I\u2019m not sure what he had in mind when he made this suggestion, but I can imagine using Chat GPT to generate ideas for an assignment or even envision how an essay might be organized. Personally, I anticipate using Chat GPT to help me create content in my second language. Precisely because of its predictive nature, it could help me craft my ideas into French phrases and formulations that sound perfectly native-like.<\/p>\r\n


Ultimately the greatest possibility of generative AI may be to increase a student\u2019s (or professor\u2019s or professional\u2019s) overall efficiency. If we can begin to outsource some of the simpler, repetitive tasks or those tasks that aren\u2019t necessarily accuracy-based, we can free up time for higher-level thinking. The example that comes to mind is a task like writing a cover letter. Chat GPT could likely write a clear, simple cover letter in a fraction of the time it would take me to labor over choosing every perfect word. You can likely think of several other examples in academics and in everyday life, so I\u2019m curious to hear from you. What tasks could you imagine, or maybe you have already tried, offloading to Chat GTP?<\/p>\r\n


I\u2019ll conclude by sharing my very first experience with Chat GPT, because it is illustrative of several principles we\u2019ve discussed. When Chat GTP 4 was released, my husband was telling me about this brand new thing, and I was trying to wrap my head around it. At the time I was knee-deep in the historical context section of my topic expertise essay. I learn best by concrete examples, so my husband typed in the topic I was working on, namely the history of evangelicalism in France. Two interesting things happened. Firstly, the topic sentence that I had already written in my essay was nearly identical to Chat GTP\u2019s topic sentence. Secondly, the text that Chat GTP spit out actually highlighted a whole aspect of French evangelicalism that I hadn\u2019t thought to cover. I was a bit embarrassed that I had just skipped over this really essential aspect of the history, but thanks to Chat GTP I researched more and added to my essay.<\/p>\r\n


In the end, there are some valuable possibilities that come with generative AI. This potential does not negate the dangers, but if we are aware of the limits this technology can become a powerful tool in our educational tool belt.<\/p>\r\n

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  1. \r\n

    Lucinda McKnight, \u201cEight Ways to Engage with AI Writers in Higher Education,\u201d The Times Higher Education, October 14, 2022.\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/www.timeshighereducation.com\/campus\/eight-ways-engage-ai-writers-higher-education<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n

  2. \r\n

    Haomiao Huang, \u201cHow ChatGPT Turned Generative AI into an \u2018Anything Tool,\u2019\u201d Ars Technica, August 23, 2023,<\/span> https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/ai\/2023\/08\/how-chatgpt-turned-generative-ai-into-an-anything-tool\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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