As artificial intelligence continues to innovate and enter new spheres of influence, new ethical questions are posed within society. How can humans use AI as a tool to benefit the world while still maintaining the important values of human knowledge and development?
Over the past few years, ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, has become widely used by Saint Ignatius students as it answers seemingly any question it is fed within seconds. Whether students request Calculus practice problems, synonyms for an overused word in their essays, or even ask ChatGPT to write their Junior Research Papers, this new technology threatens the traditional ways of teaching that Saint Ignatius and other schools have systematically relied on.
How can Ignatius advance forward to account for the changes that AI technology has introduced?
“The main problem is that it exposes the [lack of] integrity of students,” Dr. Delaney shared. As AI continues to grow more and more accessible, it has begun to foster an environment where cheating is a widely practiced norm and dependence on ChatGPT to complete assignments.
Not only does the use of AI in classrooms lead to disciplinary punishments, but the long term effects of relying on digital technology are potentially detrimental to human advancement. By using AI as a crutch, students’ inhibit their ability to critically think. “Students aren’t using AI as a tool, they’re using it as a replacement,” remarked Ms. King.
While AI has certainly introduced a variety of ethical issues, its positive effects are hugely impactful. When used in medical fields, AI has the ability to draw conclusions about diseases and cures that could have taken decades for humans to discover. Similarly, AI technology is able to predict natural disasters, potentially preserving millions of lives that would’ve otherwise been lost in such events. As AI contributes both negative and positive effects, how can people decide if the good outweighs the bad? Is it too late to even make those decisions now that the technology is ubiquitous?
According to Dr. Delaney, schools like Saint Ignatius need to begin accepting the widespread use of AI and propose plans to educate around it. In Ms. Doherty’s AP English class, for example, students are analyzing AI-generated answers to essay prompts and comparing its ability to respond to questions against students’ answers.
As simple practice exercises and comprehension questions can be easily plugged into an AI system, teachers are required to start thinking deeply about the work they assign. High school coursework is predicted to undergo a drastic change, focusing more so on developing thoughtful analysis and nurturing creativity. While incredibly advanced, AI technology is limited, lacking the sense of humanity that is pivotal to an A+ piece of writing. Humans approach academic and social situations by considering all aspects, including common sense, ethics, and contextual understanding: all spheres in which AI is inadequate. AI simply refutes the data it has been fed, providing responses that fail to consider important context. As AI continues to innovate, harnessing its access to the internet’s knowledge and mirroring human conditions, institutions must come up with creative ways to maintain the values of authenticity and personality that are central to human communication.
Over the next few decades, the long-term effects of AI will become more apparent and humans can decide if AI’s positive contributions to fields like medicine and environmentalism were worth its threat to the integrity of education.
