Submit a comment
A survey of 40 high schools in the US found that between 60 and 70 percent of students had cheated in the previous month. That number has remained unchanged, or even decreased slightly, since ChatGPT launched.
When ChatGPT launched late last year, some high schools quickly instituted strict policies to ban students from using the powerful AI chatbot tool over concerns of cheating on assignments.
But now, a new study by researchers at Stanford University (USA) shows that the rate of high school students cheating remains statistically unchanged compared to previous years, when ChatGPT was not available.
According to CNN, Stanford conducted an anonymous survey of students at 40 high schools in the US and the results showed that about 60-70% of students had cheated in the previous month. This number has not changed, and even decreased slightly since ChatGPT was launched - according to the researchers.
In November 2022, ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, became famous for its ability to provide answers and “write” convincing essays based on user suggestions in just a few seconds.
ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence (AI) tools have attracted a lot of attention, but the technology has also raised some concerns about misinformation and facilitating plagiarism.
“While there are alarming cases of AI being used to cheat, there is little evidence of a discernible change for high school students overall,” said Victor Lee, dean of Stanford’s School of AI and Education, who helped oversee the survey.
The Pew Research Center recently reported that only 19% of teens ages 13-17 use ChatGPT to do schoolwork, and only two-thirds of teens are aware of the platform. The number of students accessing ChatGPT may change in the future as they learn more about the technology, Lee said.
The survey also found that students believe ChatGPT should be allowed for “initiating” assignment purposes, such as asking the tool to generate new concepts or ideas for an assignment. However, most respondents agreed that ChatGPT should not be used for writing papers.
“That suggests that the vast majority of students genuinely want to learn and see AI as a tool to help them, rather than relying on AI to ‘study for them’ or save them time when completing assignments,” said Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Education.
According to researchers, some of the main reasons students cheat include difficulty grasping course material, lack of time to do homework, and pressure to perform well.
“It's been just over a year since ChatGPT came to public attention, so we should expect some changes over time in schools, work, and daily life,” said Lee.
Pope said educators should consider inviting students to discuss the topic of AI and cheating, and to discuss what they should learn in school as AI continues to emerge. “That allows us all to discuss the role of schools in the future, in a world where AI is everywhere,” she said.
According to Vietnam+