Will ChatGPT make essay writing obsolete? – Notes

Written by Chris in ChatGPT Essay Notes

These notes are based on an article by Business Insider Africa. The primary focus of the article is to answer the question: “Will ChatGPT make essay writing obsolete?”

ChatGPT, is an advanced AI tool capable of generating coherent and conversational responses. While it has raised concerns in the academic world about its potential misuse for essay writing, experts believe it cannot replace the unique insights and subjective perceptions of human writers.

This research was used to help write my article, 7 Things You Need to Know About Using ChatGPT to Write an Essay, that I think you will find useful. You can visit the original article here. I find my notes often help me more to understand the material than reading the original article, especially the question and answer section, please take a look below.

Table of Contents

Topics Covered in the Article

  • Introduction to ChatGPT and its capabilities
  • Concerns about ChatGPT’s usage in Academia
  • Students’ experiments with ChatGPT for assignments
  • Expert opinions on ChatGPT’s potential impact on education
  • Comparisons of ChatGPT’s impact with historical technological advancements
  • The potential of AI tools in education
  • The difference between AI-generated content and human-written content
  • Reasons why ChatGPT will not make essay writing obsolete

Topics Covered

Introduction to ChatGPT and its capabilities

  • ChatGPT is an AI tool that has garnered significant attention in the academic world.
  • It provides conversational, coherent, and quirky responses to any query in simple language.

Concerns about ChatGPT’s usage in Academia

  • There’s a debate about whether ChatGPT could encourage students to cheat.
  • Concerns arise about the tool making plagiarism detection tools like Copyscape obsolete.

Students’ experiments with ChatGPT for assignments

  • Students tested ChatGPT to see if it could complete their assignments.
  • One student claimed to have solved a computer networks assignment using ChatGPT.

Expert opinions on ChatGPT’s potential impact on education

  • Experts with teaching experience in humanities and AI find the chatbot impressive.
  • However, they also highlight certain limitations of the chatbot.
  • Professor Andrew Piper believes we’re not yet at a stage where AI can write student essays indistinguishably.
  • Comparisons are made between the fear of ChatGPT and the introduction of calculators in education.

Comparisons of ChatGPT’s impact with historical technological advancements

  • Historical fears, like the introduction of writing dissolving human memory or calculators ending math learning, are compared to current ChatGPT concerns.
  • Lauren Klein compares ChatGPT fears with Plato’s concerns about writing.

The potential of AI tools in education

  • AI tools like ChatGPT can enhance education.
  • Paul Fyfe believes there’s room for collaboration between educators and AI.
  • Some educators are exploring the integration of AI programs in classrooms.

The difference between AI-generated content and human-written content

  • AI-generated content lacks subjective insights and personal experiences.
  • ChatGPT’s writing style is distinct and often more formal than human writing.

Reasons why ChatGPT will not make essay writing obsolete

  • Tools are now available to detect AI-generated content in essays.
  • ChatGPT lacks the ability to provide subjective insights in essays.
  • The AI tool’s writing style is often too formal and lacks the human touch.
  • Despite its capabilities, ChatGPT cannot replace the unique attributes of the human brain.

Resources

  • OpenAI
    • Use: OpenAI is the organization behind ChatGPT. By exploring their website, one can gain insights into the latest advancements in AI, research papers, and other AI tools they’ve developed which can be beneficial for academic and technological pursuits.
  • NBC News
    • Use: NBC News is a reputable news source that provides a wide range of articles on various topics. The article references statements from experts as reported by NBC News. By visiting their site, one can find more detailed articles, expert interviews, and in-depth analyses related to ChatGPT and other technological advancements.
  • Write My Essay
    • Use: Write My Essay is an essay writing service. If one is looking to understand the perspective of professional essay writers on tools like ChatGPT, or if they need assistance with academic writing, this service can be of help. Their insights on the impact of ChatGPT on their business can also provide a practical perspective on the tool’s influence in the academic writing industry.
  • Grammarly
    • Use: Grammarly is a digital writing assistant that helps with grammar, punctuation, and style. For academic purposes, it can be used to proofread and enhance essays and papers. It also offers plagiarism-checking features, ensuring the originality of content.
  • Chegg
    • Use: Chegg is an educational platform offering textbook rentals, homework help, and tutoring services. It also provides plagiarism-checking features. For students or educators, Chegg can be a valuable resource for academic support and ensuring content originality.
  • Copyscape
    • Use: Copyscape is a plagiarism detection tool. For educators and students, it’s essential to ensure that essays and academic papers are original. By using Copyscape, one can verify the authenticity of content and avoid potential academic misconduct.

Questions and Answers

What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an AI tool developed by OpenAI that can generate conversational, coherent, and quirky responses to queries.

What concerns have arisen regarding ChatGPT’s usage in academia? There are concerns that ChatGPT could encourage students to cheat and make plagiarism detection tools obsolete.

How have students experimented with ChatGPT? Some students have tested ChatGPT to see if it could complete their assignments, with one claiming success in a computer networks assignment.

What do experts with teaching experience think about ChatGPT? While they find the chatbot impressive, they also highlight its limitations and believe it cannot yet write student essays indistinguishably.

How does the fear of ChatGPT compare with historical technological advancements? It’s compared to historical fears like the introduction of writing dissolving human memory or calculators ending math learning.

What potential do AI tools have in education? AI tools like ChatGPT can enhance education, and there’s room for collaboration between educators and AI.

How does AI-generated content differ from human-written content? AI-generated content lacks subjective insights and personal experiences and often has a more formal writing style than human writing.

Why won’t ChatGPT make essay writing obsolete? Tools are available to detect AI-generated content, and ChatGPT lacks the ability to provide subjective insights in essays.

Which organization developed ChatGPT? OpenAI developed ChatGPT.

What is the primary focus of the article? The primary focus is to explore whether ChatGPT will make essay writing obsolete.

How does ChatGPT respond to queries? It provides conversational, coherent, and quirky responses in simple language.

What are the potential misuses of ChatGPT in the academic world? Potential misuses include cheating on assignments and bypassing plagiarism detection tools.

Who compared the fears of ChatGPT with Plato’s concerns about writing? Lauren Klein made this comparison.

What is the stance of Professor Andrew Piper on ChatGPT’s capabilities? He believes we’re not yet at a stage where AI can write student essays indistinguishably.

How can AI tools like ChatGPT be integrated into education? Some educators are exploring the integration of AI programs in classrooms to enhance learning experiences.

What is the writing style of ChatGPT? ChatGPT’s writing style is distinct and often more formal than human writing.

How do tools like Grammarly and Copyscape relate to the discussion on ChatGPT? They are tools that help in proofreading and checking for plagiarism, ensuring the originality of content in the face of AI tools like ChatGPT.

How does Paul Fyfe view the collaboration between educators and AI? Paul Fyfe believes there’s room for collaboration, indicating a positive outlook on the integration of AI in education.

What are the unique attributes of the human brain that ChatGPT cannot replicate? The human brain provides unique insights, subjective experiences, and a personal touch in writing that ChatGPT cannot replicate.

How does the article view the future of essay writing in the age of AI? While AI tools like ChatGPT are impressive, the article suggests that they cannot replace the unique attributes of human writing, ensuring the continued relevance of essay writing.

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Chris

Chris Chenault trained as a physicist at NMSU and did his doctoral work in biophysics at Emory. After studying medicine but deciding not to pursue an MD at Emory medical school Chris started a successful online business. In the past 10 years Chris's interests and studies have been focused on AI as applied to search engines, and LLM models. He has spent more than a thousand hours studying ChatGPT, GPT 3.5, and GPT4. He is currently working on a research paper on AI hallucinations and reducing their effects in large language models.

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