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ChatGPT is not the end of essays in education


  The takeover of AI is upon us! AI can now take all our jobs, is the click-bait premise you hear from the news. While I cannot predict the future, I am dubious that AI will play such a dubious role in our future. Another assertion of the doomsayers is that the prowess of ChatGPT has made the college essay a thing of the past. I do not think the college essay is dead.

Writing is one of the best ways for students to recall and formulate their ideas as they are trying to learn. So what will I do as a college professor to combat this? One, I will talk to my students and explain to them that they learn by doing. Having ChatGPT write answers for you will not improve your education, and in the long and probably short term, this is going to hurt you. Two, I will tell them that there will be severe punishments, including expulsion, for anyone I catch using AI to write their assignments.

But you say, “How will you catch them if ChatGPT is so good?” You can ask ChatGPT if it wrote the answer! Here is a little experiment I did.

Q to ChatGPT: Explain the size of microorganisms.

A: Microorganisms are extremely small living organisms that are usually too small to be seen without the use of a microscope. They can be divided into three main categories based on size: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria are the largest of these, with sizes ranging from 0.2 to 10 micrometers (µm). Viruses are even smaller, with sizes ranging from 20 to 300 nanometers (nm). Fungi, such as yeasts and molds, are generally larger than viruses but still much smaller than bacteria, with sizes ranging from 1 to 100 µm. It is important to note that these size ranges are approximate, and there is significant overlap between the different categories.

 

Q: Did you write this phrase? "Microorganisms are extremely small living organisms that are usually too small to be seen without the use of a microscope. They can be divided into three main categories based on size: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria are the largest of these, with sizes ranging from 0.2 to 10 micrometers (µm). Viruses are even smaller, with sizes ranging from 20 to 300 nanometers (nm). Fungi, such as yeasts and molds, are generally larger than viruses but still much smaller than bacteria, with sizes ranging from 1 to 100 µm. It is important to note that these size ranges are approximate, and there is significant overlap between the different categories.".

A:Yes, I wrote that phrase. Is there anything else I can help with?

Will it make mistakes and claim other writing as its own? Here is some of my own writing to test that idea.

Q: Did you write this phrase? "Microbes are mostly not visible to the naked eye (but there are exceptions such as Thiomargarita namibiensis that lives off the coast of Namibia). This microbe eats hydrogen sulfide and uses it to reduce nitrate or oxygen. We will consider microbiology to be the study of organisms that can exist as single cells, contain a nucleic acid genome for at least some part of their life cycle, and are capable of replicating that genome."

A: No, I did not write that phrase. Is there anything else I can help with?

I even played around with changing some words, which students might do to disguise that they used ChatGPT and the response was pretty cool.

Q: Did you write this phrase? "Microorganisms are small living organisms that cannot be seen without the use of a microscope. They can be divided into three main categories based on size: bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria are the largest of these, with sizes ranging from 0.2 to 10 micrometers (µm). Viruses are even smaller, with sizes ranging from 20 to 300 nanometers (nm). Fungi, such as yeasts and molds, are generally larger than viruses but still much smaller than bacteria, with sizes ranging from 1 to 100 µm. It is important to note that these size ranges are approximate, and there is significant overlap between the different categories."

A: No, I did not write that phrase. The correct phrase is: "Microorganisms are extremely small living organisms that are usually too small to be seen without the use of a microscope. They can be divided into three main categories based on size: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria are the largest of these, with sizes ranging from 0.2 to 10 micrometers (µm). Viruses are even smaller, with sizes ranging from 20 to 300 nanometers (nm). Fungi, such as yeasts and molds, are generally larger than viruses but still much smaller than bacteria, with sizes ranging from 1 to 100 µm. It is important to note that these size ranges are approximate, and there is significant overlap between the different categories."

It gave me its response back, and I could compare them. Every time there is a new way to cheat, we find ways to fight against it. I can use the service to combat it.