2023 has just begun and ChatGTP has already become one of the most popular topics of conversation. It is that this technology has surprised the world with its impeccable performance and sophistication, which came to support humanity in different actions. However, as the tool enjoys flashes and media attention, teachers and educational institutions are asking, what will happen next when it comes to assessing students’ writing and original thinking?
The world is becoming more connected, but this has also led to more and more challenges, especially as hybrid and online modalities become commonplace, testing the monitoring possibilities that face-to-face offers. So, to the challenges that have been added since the pandemic, today another no less is added: the popularized use of AI-based technology to write jobs.
Teachers and institutions were just beginning to feel comfortable with these digitized and remote scenarios, and the characteristics of tools such as ChatGPT once again threaten Academic Integrity among students. The experience that constant contact with academics and their needs gives us has helped us understand that Academic Integrity transcends technology, it is rather a matter of establishing a culture of respect and ethics that goes beyond the classroom.
As leaders in academic integrity, educators around the world ask us every day if we have a tool to help them renew their confidence in the originality of student work. The answer is that Turnitin Originality, a product that investigates the authenticity of student work, can detect some forms of AI-assisted writing and report indicators of contract cheating. In addition, we are looking to tomorrow, fast-forwarding, and bringing our latest AI-assisted handwriting detection capabilities—including those that recognize ChatGPT handwriting—to our products for use by educators in 2023.
It is clear, ChatGPT exists and its efficiency cannot be hidden. In a few months, perhaps it will no longer be this platform that worries the educational community, but another, perhaps even better trained. The point is that if there is transparency, trust and communication around the correct uses of AI technology for writing, it could even serve as a formative tool that allows students to practice their writing skills and original thinking.
We still cannot know what the potential of this new technology is, but we already see educators talking about the possibilities they can think of to put it to educational use. Whether it’s to overcome blank page paralysis or combat the effects of learning disabilities, teachers are already brimming with ideas for how they could use AI writing assistants in their classrooms. We’re hearing about AI writing tools to support language learning and brainstorming in general. Undoubtedly, the ideas will continue to come, as well as the experiences that educators will have to face with its use.
This AI for writing has not only put the preparation and foresight of educational institutions to the test again, but also makes an urgent call to prioritize the establishment of the culture of Academic Integrity. Technologies will evolve without our being able to control it, the only thing we can control and confirm is the certainty that we are training upright future professionals regardless of how many temptations there are to engage in bad practices.
Today it is ChatGPT, tomorrow any other technology. What does not change are the institutional values in relation to the promotion of original thinking and the students’ own voice.
*Written by María Belén Correa, Turnitin LATAM Regional Director.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.