Chat GPT as the Solution

Chris Wittekind

High School Junior

February 2023

ChatGPT is a cutting-edge language model developed by OpenAI that has revolutionized the field of natural language processing. Within school and other academic settings, it is generally frowned upon. Having an AI that can recreate human writing poses obvious problems with academic dishonesty, already there have been a myriad of examples where students turn AI generated essays in and teachers cannot tell the difference. However I believe that ChatGPT can be used as a powerful tool for developing strengths in students, especially in literature and foreign language. An AI presents certain advantages that even the modern, digital, classroom can't provide.

ChatGPT is a highly effective tool that can aid children in comprehending the complexities and structures of literature. When learning how to format a paragraph, for example, we are taught the standard sequence of the evidence commentary cycle, in high school this seems simple to us, however when first learning the concept, it can be a struggle. ChatGPT does present a new way to learn the structure, a way to learn based on repetition. The idea is, if students are able to study and annotate enough documents that follow this specific structure, they will understand it. While teachers can provide students with a few examples, for certain struggling students, there simply won't be enough material. A language AI, however, will have enough material, nearly infinite materials. To demonstrate this example, the following is the result when telling ChatGPT to "Write a few simple sentences about the importance of bees in the ecosystem, use evidence and commentary, write at a 4th grade level."

Bees are important in our ecosystem because they help to pollinate many different plants. Without bees, many of the fruits and vegetables that we eat would not be able to grow. Bees also help to pollinate flowers, which helps them to grow and produce seeds. In addition, bees are a food source for many animals, such as birds and bears.

As shown, it uses the cycle of evidence and commentary at a 4th grade level, but this is only one example, it can be made to generate another, and another, and another. However many resources students need to study, it can provide it, one of the upsides of being an AI. The example of bees in our ecosystem is also important, these paragraphs can be written about, well, whatever you want. It is shown that kids learn better when they are learning about things they want to learn about. Want someone to engage with learning evidence commentary cycle, have them choose what the AI writes about, so that it writes about their interest. This simple trick in the bot doesn't just work for simple 4th grade learning, the level at which it writes can be "customized". The following is the same prompt as before, but at an 8th grade level:

Bees are an essential part of our ecosystem, playing a crucial role in pollination. This means that they are responsible for transferring pollen from one flower to another, helping plants reproduce and grow. Without bees, we would lose a significant portion of our food supply, as many fruits and vegetables rely on bee pollination to develop. Additionally, bees contribute to the biodiversity of our planet, supporting other species that rely on the same plants for survival. The loss of bees would lead to an imbalance in our ecosystem and a decrease in food availability, which could have significant economic and environmental impacts. It is crucial that we take steps to protect and preserve bee populations, such as reducing pesticide use and planting bee-friendly plants, to ensure the health and sustainability of our planet.

Here you can clearly see how the writing scales with the level of writing you ask it to use, this advantage also makes learning highly personalizable, having each person learn at the level they are comfortable with. A 7th grader learning at an advanced level could study 8th or 9th grade writing while their classmate who struggles could study 5th or 6th grade writing until they are comfortable themselves. As it stands currently, the examples provided to classes may leave some kids bored and others still struggling. The AI also has the capability to employ, in its own writing, specifically what students are meant to study, not just the example of the evidence commentary cycle, specific rubrics or requirements can be input into the prompt to make sure the AI generates the correct study material. In these ways ChatGPT can help provide personalized study material to kids in literature across the board.

In addition to offering personalized study material to kids in literature, ChatGPT enhances our ability to study languages and develop new vocabulary in a more effective manner. ChatGPT also provides us with the ability to study language and develop new vocabulary in that language more effectively. When studying a foreign language in a classroom, the student is limited to the words they learn, with the exception of maybe putting random words through Google translate, but ChatGPT also holds a solution to this. The AI is not limited to English, so in combination with the last paragraph, it can generate the correct material for a student learning a different language. To give an example, this is the answer to the prompt "generate 3 simple facts in German, write at a year one German level":

1. Deutschland liegt in Europa. (Translation: Germany is located in Europe.)

2. Die deutsche Sprache hat 26 Buchstaben im Alphabet. (Translation: The German language has 26 letters in the alphabet.)

3. Berlin ist die Hauptstadt von Deutschland. (Translation: Berlin is the capital of Germany.)

Having any amount of these sentences or facts available to a new learner has so much potential to teach them new vocabulary, or maybe just to teach them if they want to include a list of words that they should use. The AI can also be told to write in certain tenses, to accommodate for what the class is studying or what the student wishes to study. For example, the prompt: "Write 3 sentences in the German present-perfect tense. Write at a year 2 German level."

1. Ich habe gestern ein Buch gelesen. (Translation: I read a book yesterday.)

2. Wir haben heute Morgen gefrühstückt. (Translation: We had breakfast this morning.)

3. Meine Eltern haben gestern Abend ferngesehen. (Translation: My parents watched TV last night.)

These prompts can also be scaled up in difficulty, changing from beginner all the way to essentially fluent.

Although children may initially resort to dishonesty while using ChatGPT, they are likely to suffer negative consequences in their academic performance. Despite the appealing prospect of easily crafting high-quality essays or answers, the temptation to cheat can lead to a loss of knowledge acquisition and critical thinking skills. This can be seen when evaluating the answer the kids give on homework assignments as compared to the ones given in class or on standardized tests. It is important to emphasize the value of hard work and ethical conduct in achieving long-term success and personal growth rather than solely focusing on short-term grades. This is a job only a teacher can do, fortunately, the software GPTZero, which claims to be able to identify when the AI was used is still mostly inaccurate and ends up flagging human writing as AI generated. Teachers however, have been shown to be able to tell the difference based on word choice and knowing the student and their writing style. The threat of cheating on homework using this AI is largely detrimental to the student and easily identified by the teacher.

Going beyond just the study of literature, the advantage of an AI that can generate nearly endless amounts of different stipulations of scenarios or writings, a student who wishes to study something, if they know how to interact with the bot correctly can study until they have learned enough. This is why I believe students shouldn't be taught to stay away from the language AI like it's poison, but should be taught how to manipulate the AI to generate study material, or use it to point them to other physical study material. Teachers, too, should see the AI as only a weapon of academic dishonesty and cheating and more as a tool to provide students with the learning they need.