'It could get into a lot of sticky situations': When is AI cheating U of S students ask
Universities around Canada are faced with a new look at an old problem. How do students use technology as a tool, and not as a resource to cheat?
A new language generation model, ChatGPT, has the ability to respond to human questions and generate content like essays, but it raises the question of plagiarism and what’s considered academic misconduct.
While the technology has been around for at least a year, it was just released to the public at the end of 2022.
University professors have responded with a variety of reactions.
“They’ve ranged from extreme excitement, and looking at new technology developments and how that can be leveraged and what the implications will be,” said Nancy Turner, Director of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at the University of Saskatchewan. “To extreme fear, and kind of everything in between.”
It’s clear that the software could be used to plagiarize work.
Despite having no specific guidelines against the use of artificial intelligence, Turner says the current policy around academic integrity applies to ChatGPT.
“I think we need to think about, how do you acknowledge it? If you do use it for example, but our policies and regulations regarding plagiarism really stand and they do cover unattributed and unacknowledged use of written work that the student hasn’t authored themselves,” Turner told CTV News.
While it’s sure to be a game changer for students, they don’t seem too sure about it just yet.
“The stories that I’ve heard about people using ChatGPT, they’ve used it to make entire essays,” said Abang Omot, a current student at the University of Saskatchewan. “This is for your education as a student, not a computer software’s.”
One recent grad says she would not endorse the technology if she were making the call.
“I think it could get into a lot of sticky situations if you were to allow artificial intelligence,” said Alice Li. “It’s one of those things, if you allow it, what’s next?”
For educators who have seen different technologies disrupt the classroom over the years, it’s just another interesting development.
“It kind of reminded me back in the ’80s, when calculators came out,” said writing centre coordinator Liv Marken. “Then in the ’90s, spell check was scandalous. The internet, everybody’s going to cheat because of the internet. So we go through these phases, and it's really interesting to me.”
But while it’s changing the game for students, Marken says it will likely change things for instructors too.
“I’ve entered my assignment prompts into it, just to see what happens,” she said. “I think instructors are going to have to change assignment prompts in order to have students do more, engage in the writing process and the thinking process a little more.”
Turner says the University is in the process of engaging with students, professors and faculty to make sure tools like ChatGPT can be used to enhance the university experience while maintaining academic integrity.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.