Benefits and Risks of ChatGPT for Education

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT, a unique AI chatbot that can hold intelligent conversations and replicate human-like speech which was created by OpenAI, an AI research lab.

This was introduced as a "free research preview" in November 2022. It uses human language learning through machine learning, adjacent to AI.

It is quite useful in cases where it comes to extracting information already available online or making corrections based on how the sentences are formed - grammar wise.

Top 5 benefits of ChatGPT for education

There are several benefits that ChatGPT brings to education. Here are some of them listed below -

1. Personalised learning

ChatGPT experimented as a home tutor for students. It assists the students in their assignments, homework and projects which help them to work effectively and deal with their assignment.

It provides information according to need and also gives suggestions relevant to search made. Given time limits, the diverse class presents challenges in attacking each student's problem.

Each student has his/her unique needs and demands, ChatGPT provides personalised learning by responding to their concrete questions, allowing them to learn what they want and in the order that best fits. This also helps understand the hard texts with ease.

2. Virtual tutoring

ChatGPT has the potential of tutoring students. It's somewhat like providing a virtual tutoring service which helps students with their assignments, homeworks and projects.

It provides responses to their queries, supplementary materials and references for further understanding the topic in depth. Teaching with ChatGPT is easier and more convenient.

3. Proofreading and grammar check

AI tools like Grammarly, integrated with ChatGPT can help in proofreading and checking any grammatical errors in our writings.

It provides suggestions which need to be used and highlights the mistakes but again it is very important to make informed decisions based on our knowledge too, not just blindly following the suggestions.

4. Interactive learning

The kind of response that ChatGPT generates is very interactive. For instance if by mistake one has typed a wrong word, chatGPT responds by correcting it and providing the relevant information.

One has to not provide a reference every time what they are talking about, one reference is enough for ChatGPT to understand the nuance of follow-up questions.

Learn about ChatGPT for Educators : Transforming Teaching and Learning

5. Ease the research work

Earlier, if we needed to write about a topic or gather information, we would rely on Google, reading through various articles. This process was time-consuming.

However, with the advent of ChatGPT, the time spent on research is significantly reduced.

It streamlines the process by filtering information from multiple sources and providing you with the precise details you need.

Risks of ChatGPT for education

Along with certain advantages, ChatGPT comes with some of the risks as well. Take a look at the following points:

1. Ineffective development of core skills

ChatGPT has the power to produce almost every information that has already been somewhere in the databases available online.

Being this efficient, usage of this tool can hamper critical thinking , problem solving skills , research abilities and above all even the thinking ability of a student.

It leads to ineffective development of core skills especially. Our brain develops an ability of looking for help in every situation rather than understanding the situation and making decisions effectively. It also kills the motivation of learning.

2. Misleading information

Although it provides information in a very short span of time, sometimes the reliability and integrity of the data is compromised. It needs to be cross checked because the information may be wrong.

For instance, a solution of any mathematical problems, any scientific information, references etc. It can also produce biased data based on the way it has been programmed to fetch information.

3. Develop procrastination

Procrastination is a sin. It is a form of self-sabotage which takes away the full potential of a person to achieve their dreams, be productive, add magic to their work and leads to wastage of time.

Since it is subconsciously there in our mind that the work will be done because of ChatGPT, we tend to procrastinate.

It leads to presenting the work which may not have any creativity of your own in it. There is no learning in doing that work and it also shows that the person is not too interested to put any effort in performing that job.

4. Over dependency

This gives ChatGPT a stranglehold on every small business, causing them to fall into the habit of procrastination. This can result in the over reliance of an AI tool.

It is also like a buddy who just willfully helps you without asking anything.

Overly depending on AI in education can cost creativity, productivity, lack of interest, seriousness towards work and what not. It is acceptable to take help from this AI tool but depending on it for every sort of work is inadequate.

5. Lack of emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is defined as "a person's ability to manage their feelings so that those feelings are expressed appropriately and effectively"(taken from Daniel Goleman's book).

ChatGPT being an AI tool cannot generate neural connections, understand the gestures, feelings or emotions of a person or any non verbal signals which limits its ability to empathise with the users.

It develops the data based on understanding a statistical pattern not by being empathetic.

Although sometimes it appears that the response of ChatGPT is very empathetic, there are no genuine experienced emotions involved in it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is not possible to simply ban ChatGPT but use it judiciously. It has numerous benefits like it saves time, shows the initial path to proceed for our works, a true help in the eleventh hour and many more.

As it has many benefits, truly relying on it, over dependency, procrastinating can lead to paralysing our own ability to function.

One should never forget that it has been generated by a human and is supposed to work for them, it shouldn't be the other way round.

Our mind is the best gift we human beings possess. It can do wonders when everything else fails in this universe, so we should always be focused on improving the quality of the greatest treasure we have.

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