A Campus with ChatGPT: Reddit AMA

Expert philosopher and ethicist shares his thoughts on the ethics and pedagogy of AI text generation in the educational process, discussing how school systems should handle the integration of ChatGPT in classrooms.

Excerpt from BU Experts: A Campus with ChatGPT: The Ethics Behind AI Text Generation in Education

By Rachel Lin

It’s no secret that classroom tools and technologies are constantly evolving. Students used to bring a pen and paper to class. Then came the practice of typing lecture notes on laptops and inputting numbers on a calculator. Now, learners type questions and essay prompts into artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT to understand a dense topic.

AI text generators are a type of software that utilizes artificial intelligence to produce written content or copy. With impressive benefits like increased efficiency and speed, quality content and accuracy, and low cost, the use of these tools is growing among educational institutions. According to scholars from Michigan State University, “AI in the K-12 classroom became even more prevalent as learning shifted to and, in some cases, remained online due to COVID-19.” With the popularity of ChatGPT, which gained 57 million users in its first month, educators across institutions are worried about the academic integrity and ethics of AI integration in the school system. Debates on whether ChatGPT should be banned in classrooms are one of the biggest topics for school boards across the country. The New York public school department has recently blocked access to the program on school computers and networks.

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