Generative AI: News

"The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It" | New York Times

Given the school’s cost and reputation, she expected a top-tier education. This course was required for her business minor; its syllabus forbade “academically dishonest activities,” including the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence or chatbots.

“He’s telling us not to use it, and then he’s using it himself,” she said.

Ms. Stapleton filed a formal complaint with Northeastern’s business school, citing the undisclosed use of A.I. as well as other issues she had with his teaching style, and requested reimbursement of tuition for that class. As a quarter of the total bill for the semester, that would be more than $8,000.

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Not all situations are so clear cut. Dr. Shovlin said it was tricky to come up with rules because reasonable A.I. use may vary depending on the subject. The Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, where he is a fellow, instead has “principles” for A.I. integration, one of which eschews a “one-size-fits-all approach.”

The Times contacted dozens of professors whose students had mentioned their A.I. use in online reviews. The professors said they had used ChatGPT to create computer science programming assignments and quizzes on required reading, even as students complained that the results didn’t always make sense. They used it to organize their feedback to students, or to make it kinder. As experts in their fields, they said, they can recognize when it hallucinates, or gets facts wrong.

There was no consensus among them as to what was acceptable. Some acknowledged using ChatGPT to help grade students’ work; others decried the practice. Some emphasized the importance of transparency with students when deploying generative A.I., while others said they didn’t disclose its use because of students’ skepticism about the technology.

Most, however, felt that Ms. Stapleton’s experience at Northeastern — in which her professor appeared to use A.I. to generate class notes and slides — was perfectly fine. That was Dr. Shovlin’s view, as long as the professor edited what ChatGPT spat out to reflect his expertise. Dr. Shovlin compared it to a longstanding practice in academia of using content, such as lesson plans and case studies, from third-party publishers.

To say a professor is “some kind of monster” for using A.I. to generate slides “is, to me, ridiculous,” he said.

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 He realized the materials were flawed only when school officials questioned him about them.

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