ChatGPT and threats to the education system and teachers’ reactions

Artificial intelligence-based  ChatGPT is revolutionising many industries, including the academic community. It has already made its debut in the scientific literature – it has been recognised as the author of at least four articles and print samples. Publishers generally agree: AI does not meet the criteria of a research author because it cannot take responsibility for the content and integrity of scientific articles. However, some argue that the contribution of AI to article writing can be recognised in sections other than the list of authors.

Meanwhile, universities are redesigning courses and taking precautions to make it harder for students to use AI-based tools. Academics are making changes that include more oral exams, group work and handwritten assessments. However, universities are reluctant to ban AI – their authorities doubt the move will be effective. At the same time, they do not want to infringe on academic freedom. Washington University in St Louis and the University of Vermont are drafting amendments to their academic integrity rules to make their definitions of plagiarism include generative AI.

In schools, however, teachers try to control whether students use the chatbot for homework and ban the tool on school devices and wi-fi networks. In addition, some companies, such as Turnitin, are already actively working on ChatGPT plagiarism detection tools to help teachers identify written assignments by artificial intelligence.