Should university students be allowed to use AI?
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The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be more concerning than we actually think. Using AI to assist in completing degrees has the potential to impact the credibility of these qualifications.
This news comes from associate professor at the University of Johannesburg’s Department of English, Professor Andy Carolin. Carolin told Cape Talk that these fears are across the academic world in South Africa.
“I have no doubt students use ChatGPT to submit written work, but what sets the large language model apart from others is that there is just no way to prove it,” Carolin said.
He explained that using AI is different to plagirising content. Plagiarised work can be tracked back to a particular origin, verifying that it was copied.
Speaking about AI detectors and whether or not they actually are effective, Carolin explained that they only make a cursory assertion about the use of AI.
To add to this argument about the use of AI, Prof Carolin explained that students are not making use of their course material.
However, the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (EBIT) Dean, Prof Wynand Steyn, told MyBroadband they have embraced the use of AI tools like ChatGPT.
According to Prof Steyn, AI has been a significant disruptor but the faculty incorporates it into their work and assignments. Students are encouraged to use generative AI tools to aid their work and some assignments even require them to use ChatGPT or other AI tools to write papers.
However, Steyn emphasised that AI is not a complete solution and requires human understanding. Students are assessed on their ability to critically evaluate the output of AI tools and link it to the curriculum. Guidelines are being developed for both staff and students on the ethical use of AI and where its use should be restricted.
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