The Impact of ChatGPT on the Future of Written World

Technology has had a profound impact on the way we live and work for decades, especially in the field of education. Fifty years ago, the advent of small calculators revolutionized mathematics and sciences, and the smartphone changed the way students access information. Now, we have a new technology that could have a major impact on the study of English language.

ChatGPT is an AI-powered tool introduced by Open AI, a San Francisco-based technology company, at the beginning of 2023. It uses a "large language" model that enables it to comprehend natural language and respond with fluently written language, making it a true challenge for English teachers and educators.

Plagiarism has been a persistent challenge for English teachers as long as high school essays have been assigned. With the rise of technology, students have gained easy access to a vast array of information on a given subject, but this has also made it easier for them to copy and paste large chunks of text from sources for their essays. Technology has also made it easier to detect plagiarism, but ChatGPT takes the issue to a whole new level.

While it is still possible to identify plagiarism, how can one distinguish between a piece of writing created by ChatGPT and one written by a student? With its ability to write essays, short stories, poems, song lyrics, business letters, and analyze other pieces of writing in a natural language, ChatGPT poses a new challenge for educators. What's more, it is free, easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection, and requires no special knowledge to use.

Now, the question arises: Who actually wrote the essay? With just a few minutes of input on the topic, ChatGPT can produce a wide range of writing, including essays on complex topics, not just fiction or simple subjects. The tool can even take notes on a podcast, video, or lecture transcript and turn them into a well-written piece of work. This means that students who have access to transcripts from experts on a given topic can create a comprehensive summary of the subject with minimal effort. Hence, the question becomes, who wrote that piece of writing?

The ChatGPT tool itself tells you to use with caution, as it can generate inappropriate responses. Not only that, but it is explicitly stated that the information it provides may be erroneous and should always be checked for accuracy. In other words, while the language used may be difficult to separate from human writing, the content itself can give the game away.

A student who repeatedly uses the tool will eventually submit work that reveals the issue. 

It may seem like something straight out of a science fiction movie, but the need for AI to counteract AI has become a reality with the emergence of large language tools like ChatGPT. These tools use a systematic approach called "fill in the next word," which creates a predictable pattern, even though it appears natural to the reader. This pattern can be detected by other technological tools during analysis. The key factor is that ChatGPT tends to use more common words and fewer sophisticated words in certain areas, making it possible to identify the tool's involvement.

So, it is not perfect and, in many situations, can be detected. But what can educators do in the face of this new technology to minimize the risk of students everywhere using it?

Given that AI technology like ChatGPT is here to stay and will only continue to improve, it's important to rethink the way English is taught in schools. Rather than focusing solely on the end result, such as a well-written essay, the emphasis should shift towards the creative process and helping students find their own unique voice in writing. By encouraging unconventional work that emphasizes creativity and self-expression, students can explore areas that AI tools cannot replicate. Instead of being concerned about who used ChatGPT or similar tools, teachers should present tasks that challenge students in new and unexpected ways, helping them to develop their own individual skills and abilities.

Rather than simply detecting the use of AI generated content, it's necessary to rethink the way English is taught in light of its increasing prevalence. Instead of solely emphasizing the end product, a well-written essay, the focus should shift to the creative process, encouraging students to find their own unique voice and perspective. By embracing unconventional and imaginative tasks that showcase personal expression, students can steer clear of the areas where AI excels, namely, the reproduction of existing information. Instead of worrying about the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, educators should aim to design assignments that are beyond the capability of these technologies.

It's also important to reconsider the types of questions asked in assignments. Generic questions that only require generic answers are easily tackled by AI. To effectively challenge students and foster their individual growth, assignments must be designed in such a way that they require more than just recalling information. In many ways, the rise of AI tools has forced us to reevaluate our approach to learning, and this shift can have positive benefits for everyone involved.

It can be tempting to think the best solution is to simply ban students from using the tool and never speak of it again, that may not be the best approach. It exists, and it will continue to evolve, so instead of ignoring it completely, a more productive approach would be to explain why students would be missing out by using it.

The value of writing the essay is not in reaching the thousand words or whatever, but in researching the subject, learning about the topic as part of the process. By showing students the value of learning, we can help them see why ChatGPT is not the answer, but actually gets in the way of their education.

However, having said all that, while ChatGPT can produce problematic work that can be identified, this is only the beginning of the journey. AI driven tools are only going to get better, evolve and become more refined in what they do.

This will reach far beyond education too of course, with the technology able to impact IT coding, Research and development, Scientific study and more. If we look at the areas where the AI tool fails, in terms of personality, of presenting emotion effectively and consistently, these are areas that are simply irrelevant to something like coding, or a scientific analysis. While right now, AI can generate very simple code, it can generate code. Likewise, it can deliver information in a convincing way in research or other academic documents. As the technology progresses, the ability to deliver more complex code and create compelling research work and more will be refined.  

It will also impact the way the internet itself works in terms of how we find new products or information through searches. Right now, search results are defined by a number of factors, with Google’s goal to offer the most useful, best quality sites related to the search term you used. But how search engines analyze site content is based on algorithms. A tool like ChatGPT will inevitably develop to be able to game the system, and then your search result will be dictated by who uses ChatGPT and who does not. The current system is not ideal, but in general does provide quality sites at the top of searches. With ChatGPT, that may no longer be true.

This is not a problem to overcome once, and that is the end of it. AI generated content will increase in sophistication, which is why real change must be part of the response. This is true for education where we need to identify where students are using such tools, but in other fields too.

There is no doubt that we are heading to a situation where AI can turn some key phrases into an email, article, essay and so on. It is likely to become as integrated into the way we communicate as phones, email and so on. The goal then, is not to ‘overcome’ these AI tools, but to show students and professionals alike how to learn effectively and use the tools they have available to them.

Right now, it is a flawed, but impressive demonstration of the future. At some point, it will be a tool for everyone to help them express their own ideas. We should not underestimate how this technology will develop, ignoring it is not an option.