ChatGPT is a variant of the GPT language model that can generate human-like text and interact with users through language. It is an artificial intelligence trained on a large dataset of human-written text, and does not have physical senses or personal experiences. It can respond to prompts and questions in a way that is similar to how a human might, but is limited in its knowledge to the information that it has been trained on. ChatGPT does not have access to external sources of information beyond the dataset used for its training.
If the above paragraph sounded natural to you, then ChatGPT’s claim of realistic human-like writing can’t be contested, because that text was written entirely by the chatbot. To achieve this, I gave ChatGPT the prompt “Describe what you are”. However, its response wasn’t what you just read, it was too long and referred to itself in the first person. As I got more specific with my prompts, I was able to carve out the response in just the way I wanted it. ChatGPT’s capabilities extend far beyond merely sounding realistic and it proves to be a very powerful tool in a variety of cases.
Due to how eclectic ChatGPT is, it’s able to provide knowledge on a wide range of topics. However, the most intriguing application is in programming. Not only can ChatGPT answer basic questions about syntax or how to use a built-in function, but it can also write completely original scripts, as well as make corrections to any code the user provides. This is especially useful for indie game developers, who can ask ChatGPT to write a simple script for a small part of their video games, while they focus on building something more complex, allowing the developer to move at a much faster pace. It’s also notable that ChatGPT adds comments (lines of code to be ignored by the computer), helping the developer understand what each part of the script does so they know what to make modifications to if needed.
While this type of usage of ChatGPT is fantastic, ChatGPT may be something education boards need to worry about.
ChatGPT could be a new way for students to cheat on writing prompts and it’s already catching on quickly. Today, I saw two different instances of classmates using ChatGPT in class to help with classwork, and they likely found that ChatGPT is remarkably effective. ChatGPT can write a piece of writing of any specified length on almost any topic while passing plagiarism tests. Schools have never seen a tool like this before, and many have already started blocking access to ChatGPT on school WiFi. In the coming years, AI may become an even easier way for students to cheat, and an even bigger problem that schools will need to deal with.
ChatGPT is incredibly strong, and because of it has many great applications, but it’s also impossible to ignore the potential issues that come with it.
Try ChatGPT yourself and let me know your thoughts! At the time of this post, ChatGPT is completely free and available to the public
Edit: NYC has since banned use of ChatGPT on school networks and devices
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