Taking advantage of ChatGPT et al (ideally before the end of the world)

Peter Hartley is Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, National Teaching Fellow, and an independent educational consultant
Sue Beckingham is a Principal Lecturer and National Teaching Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University
Dawne Irving-Bell is Professor of Learning and Teaching at BPP University

At the beginning of the 2022/23 academic year, our colleagues and students may have been familiar with some ideas about AI (artificial intelligence) from science fiction (think Hal from the movie ‘2001’ or your local friendly Terminator, depending on your personal vintage) and they will have encountered simple examples of ‘conversational’ AI in software applications like Siri and Alexa.

By the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year, all our colleagues and students will be aware of at least some AI developments and LLM (large language models) generative text. Many (if not most) students will regularly use applications such as ChatGPT. Many students will routinely use AI in their information searches (e.g., using Bing as opposed to ‘traditional’ web searches) to plan and prepare assignments, and/or for other study purposes, such as revision aids.

In less than a year, we have gone from speculative science fiction to everyday application in the types of interaction we can have with our computers. This illustrates the increasing pace of change which many have found frightening if not downright dangerous – as in recent media headlines such as: “Artificial intelligence could lead to extinction, experts warn” (Vallance, 2023).

We cannot ignore this technology and this post focuses on our everyday use.

In the last few months, Microsoft and Google have offered competing visions of the future – a not-very-distant future where all major software applications (e.g., Microsoft Word and Google Docs) have AI built-in. Microsoft have invested heavily in OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) and are releasing their AI-based ‘personal assistant’ – Copilot – to integrate your Microsoft apps and your own data with the power of ChatGPT.  Google have confirmed similarly ambitious plans for their Google Workspace.

The particular breed of AI underpinning this rapid development is the modern version of the chatbot – the ‘conversational’ software application which can now:

• answer questions on virtually any topic (in fluent and grammatically correct text and in the language of your choice),
• engage in ongoing conversation, and
• carry out a range of tasks including writing academic documents and creating or debugging computer code.

You can find analysis and worked examples of ChatGPT in the SEDA ChatGPT webinar series (Beckingham and Hartley, 2023; Sharples, 2023) and our recent contribution to the SEDA online conference (Beckingham et al, 2023).

How can educational institutions respond?

When ChatGPT appeared, one immediate reaction was the concern about its capacity for plagiarism and academic misconduct. Conventional plagiarism detectors do not work with AI-generated text and companies like Turnitin have been frantically developing new products. At the time of writing, none of these have sufficiently high/reliable detection rates to be practical. We cannot rely on these products as a sensible long-term strategy. Instead, we need a coherent overall strategy which will allow both students and staff to make productive use of AI software.

The diagram below summarises our recommended strategy.

In summary, we need all these components:

• Effective regulations and procedures to guide ethical and fair use of this software.
• Professional development for all staff as AI has applications in every area of work across universities and colleges.
• Dedicated technical support and guidance.
• The ‘collaborative sandpit ‘for ongoing experimentation, research, and evaluation. A properly supported cross-university collaboration to find out how AI can best support both staff and student learning.
• Student engagement plans in every subject area to offer opportunities for both curriculum and assessment development projects, e.g., working with ‘students as partners’.

Is your organisation prepared for this ‘new era of AI’?

Peter Hartley is Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, National Teaching Fellow, and independent educational consultant, with longstanding interests in: communication; organisational behaviour; developments in and applications of new technologies; concept mapping; and assessment. He led the influential project on programme assessment – PASS – The PASS website is currently being updated with new case studies/examples. His most recent publications are the co-authored handbook on effective teamwork for students (Success in Groupwork, 2022, Bloomsbury) and the co-authored third edition of Professional and Business Communication: Personal Strategies for the Post-Digital World (2023, Routledge).

Sue Beckingham is a National Teaching Fellow, Principal Lecturer and LTA Lead at Sheffield Hallam University. She is also a SEDA Fellow. Certified Management and Business Educator, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University.  Her research interests include social media for learning, groupwork, and the use of technology to enhance learning and teaching; and she has published and presented this work nationally and internationally as an invited keynote speaker.  She is co-founder of the international #LTHEchat ‘Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Twitter Chat‘ and Social Media for Learning in HE Conference.

Dawne Irving-Bell, PhDis Professor of Learning and Teaching at BPP University. She is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, National Teaching Fellow and proud to hold a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence. Dawne established The National Teaching Repository, an OER with proven reach and impact across the global Higher Education community. With a passion for visual-thinking and technology education, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to re-shape teacher education she received a National Award from her Subject Association and recently co-edited The Bloomsbury Handbook of Technology Education.

Peter Hartley @profpeterbrad
Sue Beckingham @suebecks
Dawne Irving-Bell @DawneIrvingBell

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References

Beckingham, S. and Hartley, P. (2023a) A non-technical introduction to ChatGPT. SEDA ChatGPT Seminar Series. https://www.seda.ac.uk/news/chatgpt-seminar-series/

Beckingham, S. and Hartley, P. (2023b) An updated non-technical introduction to ChatGPT. SEDA ChatGPT Seminar Series. https://www.seda.ac.uk/news/chatgpt-seminar-series/

Beckingham, S., Irving-Bell, D., Dawson, M. and Hartley, P. (2023) How should our higher education institutions respond to innovations in new AI-based language processing software (like Chat GPT)? SEDA Spring Conference. https://www.slideshare.net/suebeckingham/how-should-our-higher-education-institutions-respond-to-innovations-in-new-aibased-language-processing-software-pptx

Sharples, 2023 Generative AI for Academic Writing and Assessment: Issues and Opportunities. SEDA ChatGPT Seminar Series. https://www.seda.ac.uk/news/chatgpt-seminar-series/

Vallance, C. (2023) “Artificial intelligence could lead to extinction, experts warn.” BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65746524