Robots Are Doing My Homework?

How AI is revolutionizing the 21st-century student

Every high schooler knows the panic that floods through your body when your teacher says to hand in an assignment you didn’t do. Your head goes into panic mode, figuring out a last- minute way to save your grade before it plummets down. But to your relief you remember, ChatGPT exists. And your teacher ceases to know the fact that a robot did your homework. For those who aren’t in high school anymore, taking advantage of this powerful software for academic purposes, you might be wondering, what in the world is ChatGPT?

This Is ChatGPT

According to ChatGPT’s official website, openai.com, Chat GPT is defined as, “A language model trained to produce text. ChatGPT was optimized for dialogue by using Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) – a method that uses human demonstrations to guide the model toward desired behavior.” In simpler terms, ChatGPT is a software where users can input a question or topic about appropriate subjects and in return, will get a written response that takes less than a minute to generate. For people who use Siri on their iPhones or Alexa, Amazon’s smart assistant, the basis of this technology (known as a language model) should be familiar.

A language model is a type of AI that is trained to process information through the use of recognition and prediction. Built up with the help of thousands of gigabytes worth of information from online articles, textbooks, and books, language models are versatile about common subjects taught in schools, and use the help of an algorithm to create recognition within common words and phrases. This allows for the AI to respond to questions that are prompted with little context, and gives it freedom to interpret and answer it through predictions as to what the next word or sentence might be.

Through a combination of data extracted from the internet and being trained to predict correct words and phrases, Chat GPT is a language model that is climbing its way up to be alongside the other elite models out there such as Google’s BERT and Microsoft's Transformer. Although its features seem to be remarkable, it is also important to note the several flaws the system has. According to BBC Science Focus, one major issue Chat GPT has is not being familiar with the year 2021 and forward. This could present a potential issue for users who want more information about major events that occurred through the year 2021 to 2022. Because Chat GPT relies heavily on information found on the internet, it is understandable how the AI hasn’t been caught up on the full details of the pandemic or the war in Ukraine when these historical events are still happening present day.

Another issue that Chat GPT has is outputting incorrect answers to questions that have too many variables. When prompts or concepts proposed to Chat GPT become too convoluted for it to keep up with, the AI is bound to get confused, and will often answer with short or vague responses. But regardless of its minor flaws, there’s a reason why this software is so appealing to students ranging from all types of grade levels. Chat GPT has proved time after time that it is a quick and efficient way to get homework done, and when you’re a busy high school student with hours of homework to do each night, it’s tempting to give into a website millions of people use.

But many wonder—isn’t this doing more harm than good for students? Though this question remains in debate, schools implore students to not use the "easy way out" when it comes to doing assignments while students, find the method of telling an AI what do to, much more simpler.