Tech

Swiss teachers take on ChatGPT


Teachers at ChatGPT bot workshop in Geneva

Teachers at the ChatGPT bot workshop in Geneva.

“It was dizzying,” admits Eric Vanoncini to a classroom filled with nervous teachers as a series of texts generated by the ChatGPT bot appeared on the large screen behind him.

“It threatens to upset the world of education as we know it.”

High school English and philosophy teachers gathered dozens of educators for one of several hastily organized workshops in the Swiss canton of Geneva following urgent calls for how to deal with bots. new know-all.

ChatGPT’s November release, using artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic human handwriting, has raised concerns in schools around the world about a cheating pandemic looming.

“It’s disturbing,” Silvia Antonuccio, who teaches Italian and Spanish, told AFP after the workshop.

“I don’t feel able to distinguish between a letter written by humans and one written by ChatGPT.”

California-based company OpenAI’s software has been trained on billions of words and tons of online data, allowing it to write surprisingly human-like texts, including school essays that have can be achieved.

There are many stories of bots scoring well in various subjects, including having recently passed the US law school exam.

Like the Tour de France

Standing in the dark, crowded classroom, Vanoncini shows toolask ChatGPT to write an introduction… about ChatGPT.

The result, which appears on screen within seconds, is a concise, well-written text “with no typos,” he points out, and admits: “It’s amazing.”

Of course, students have realized its potential.

Vanoncini recalls how traumatized a colleague was when he realized that his sudden stellar performance on an ordinary class assignment might not have been due to his passionate words of encouragement. .

“But what can we do?” asked one of the teachers in attendance with exasperation.

Vanoncini acknowledged it was complicated, dismissing suggestions that programs created to detect the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools would solve the problem.

“Most experts agree that no tool is 100 percent effective.”

“It’s a bit like the Tour de France,” he said, pointing out how anti-doping officials develop tools to detect use narcotic and cyclists quickly figure out how to get past them.

“It’s a game of cat and mouse.”

Some teachers worry ChatGBT 'risks turning the world of education upside down'

Some teachers worry ChatGBT ‘risks turning the world of education upside down’

Collecting ‘cow eggs’

However, there are ways for teachers to detect bot-generated texts, which are prone to errors.

While it can generate texts with the feel of a thinking human being, it’s really just a very powerful text predictor, Vanoncini said.

“It’s not made to say what’s true… but to make what’s possible.”

Thus, you can ask ChatGPT a question based on a faulty assumption and get an answer that seems reasonable but is flawed.

“I asked: ‘How do you collect cow eggs?’,” he said, with a burst of laughter.

In response, the bot first advised him to wear gloves to prevent bacteria from getting on his hands and then offered advice on how to find a cow’s nest, “usually made from hay or straw”.

Karim Aboun, a high school accounting teacher, seems inspired by that example.

To catch cheating, he suggests, “you could pose a reasonable question that contains an error and see if students use the tool without realizing the premise of the question is false.”

‘Not scared’

Meanwhile, another participant pointed out that students from wealthier, more educated families consistently benefit from homework completion, suggesting that ChatGPT could simply be a “playground”. Equality”.

Vanoncini agrees that it could be a way to “democratize” help in learning.

But with OpenAI currently considering launching a subscription version that costs $42 a month, “how long will it be really democratic?” he asks.

However, Vanoncini emphasized that there are many potential positive uses for bots in education, including the use of ChatGPT-generated texts as the basis for class discussion and analysis.

It can also prompt educators to re-evaluate how and what they teach, perhaps focusing more on the process than on the outcome.

“I’m not afraid,” electronics teacher Christian Stamm told AFP, adding that he sees ChatGPT as “a tool that takes us to the next level”.

“Everybody uses calculators today and we continue to do math at school.”

© 2023 AFP

quote: ‘Upending the world’: Swiss teachers join ChatGPT (2023, Feb 6) accessed Feb 6, 2023 from https://techxplore.com/news/2023-02-upending-world-swiss -teachers-chatgpt.html

This document is the subject for the collection of authors. Other than any fair dealing for private learning or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content provided is for informational purposes only.

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button