As AI becomes more popular, how are Western University students using ChatGPT? | CBC News

Concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT becoming a means of cheating are top of mind for professors, but some Western University students say they use the bot as a tool to help them with ideas for their assignments, rather than to plagiarize.

“It almost acts like a search engine for us. It spits out information that you wouldn’t easily be able to find on Google,” said Ameya Patel, a health sciences student entering his second year. 

“ChatGPT gives you one definitive answer, so it’s like talking to a human. It’s very easy to use when you’re looking for certain information,” the 19-year-old added. 

The AI language program takes texts from the Internet and uses prompts to generate sentences and paragraphs that can seem very human-like. As its popularity has increased in recent months, so have the worries of educators, who fear it may inspire students to take shortcuts and rely on the tool to complete assignments.

“All these mechanisms are kind of 180 degrees against what we’re trying to teach with writing,” said Luke Stark, an assistant professor in the faculty of information and media studies at Western.

“One of the dangers in the classroom is it’ll get students used to avoiding those hard moments where you have to push through to write something.”

But that hasn’t stopped students from using ChatGPT. Computer Science student Parveer Sekhon said he knows plenty of university students who use it on a regular basis.

Many in his program use ChatGPT to write code — but it’s important to remember that the information a bot spits out may not be accurate. 

“It’s a competitive advantage, for sure, but it affects education,” said Sekhon, 19. “I think it’s best used not in terms of doing an entire assignment, but if you can’t figure something out, you can use it to help add on, but you also have to use your own intuition.”

Along with classwork, ChatGPT also allows students to learn new skills and acquire information, and get some help with writing cover letters, Sekhon said. 

Business student Ishaan Aujla, 19, said he believes using ChatGPT to cheat and get better grades will ultimately backfire.

“If someone uses it and gets the better mark for themselves, they’ll suffer consequences because you can get a degree using ChatGPT, but when you go into the workforce you’ll be screwed,” Aujla said. 

Highlighting drawbacks of relying on AI

Western has been encouraging instructors to talk to their students about both the benefits and drawbacks of AI content generators such as ChatGPT, and to set clear expectations about its use in their courses. Currently, there’s no reliable tool to detect whether AI has been used in assignments.

Professors should emphasize to students why they’re asked to do certain assignments in the first place, and help them understand why it’s in their best interest to not rely so heavily on AI, Stark said.

“We want to evaluate writing that comes from students, not AI, and I’m confident that if we have conversations with students and engage with them, they can abide by the rules,” he said. “The majority of students do understand why they’re in university.”

Repetitive and formal words that most university students wouldn’t use are telltale signs that someon has used ChatGPT to complete an assignment, said Yueun Lee, who studies media, information and technoculture at Western. Relying on help from AI longterm could have negative consequences, she added. 

“Becoming too heavily reliant on any type of mechanics or AI is harmful because then you lose your own ability to do it. And if someday it just disappeared, people won’t be able to write their essays anymore,” she said.