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College professors are going back to paper exams and handwritten essays to fight students using ChatGPT
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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It just brings into question what the point of exams are.
AI in its current form is equivalent to the advent of the typewriter. Its just empowering you to do a whole lot more a whole lot faster.
Not using it is dumb.
AI is a tool that can indeed be of great benefit when used properly. But using it without comprehending and verifying the source material can be downright dangerous (like those lawyers citing fake cases). The point of the essay/exam is to test comprehension of the material.
Using AI at this point is like using a typewriter in a calligraphy test, or autocorrect in a spelling and grammar test.
Although asking for handwritten essays does nothing to combat use of AI. You can still generate content and then transcribe it by hand.
You know idiots with AI do that all the time everyday right?
Isn't that the point and what people are trying to prevent?
My broader point (in your metaphor) is that calligraphy tests are irrelevant at this point. The world changed. Theres not going back.
A calligraphy test is not irrelevant if you are studying to LEARN calligraphy. If you are arguing that calligraphy as a subject doesnt need to exist then fine then don't study it. But you don't learn it by asking AI to do it for you.
Typewriters are also irrelevant today. It was an analogy. I agree that AI can be used in some evaluations, depending what you're evaluating.
I allow and encourage Googling for information when I interview software engineering candidates. I don't consider it "cheating", on the contrary. Being able to unblock themselves is one of the skills they should have. They will be using external help when doing their job, so why should the test be any different.
But that also reminds me now that I actually once had a candidate using generative AI in the coding interview. It did feel like cheating when it was a the level of asking for the full solution, not just help getting unblocked. It didn't help at all though because the candidate didn't even have enough skill to tell the good suggestions from the bad ones or what they needed to iterate on.
🤔 I dispute that typewriters are irrelevant. Famous writers still use them today, and they are a perfect means for helping some disabled people type out essays on the spot to test their comprehension of a subject. It gets around handwriting issues without allowing electronics that could be used for cheating into an exam space.
If that is the case and comprehending the material isn't necessary then who needs the students in the first place? Just replace them with AI.
It'll happen sooner than you think
It absolutely will not, "AI" is not anywhere close to good enough to replace humans.
Until the AI offloads the work onto a lesser ai
A.K.A.: Humans
That argument is great until someone gets maimed or killed because the "AI" got it wrong and the user didn't know enough to realize.
Because of an essay?
We need to teach people to work with technology. Not pretend it doesnt exist. When these models came out, the world changed. If you arent using them right now you are being left behind
The point of college is to teach people the material, not see if they can use an AI. The AI could be wrong, and we need people to know when it is wrong.
We still teach people arithmetic, even though calculators exist, because we want people to understand the logic and reason behind the tools they use.
Yes, or "AI generated software."
It's fine if you use it as something supplementary (i.e., a really fast "I would've typed roughly this anyways"). However, you absolutely shouldn't trust it to get things right when you have no knowledge of the subject matter.
🙄 the world didn't change; a new overhyped technology appeared. Like the cloud, smart phone, voice assistant, etc, it'll find its place. However, it's place isn't everywhere or writing all your essays, thoughts, opinions, and reports that you don't want to do.
It's really not. Everything that you write with a typewriter is going to be your own words and your own thoughts. I wouldn't even consider the calculator comparison to be valid. A calculator will spit out an objective truth. AI tools like chatgpt will formulate complex responses to how you prompt it. It adds context, information, and analysis in a way that a typewriter or calculator doesn't. The whole point of school is to learn critical thinking skills and telling chatgpt to write an essay for you based on the assignment criteria will not achieve that goal in any meaningful way.
That being said, there are valid ways to use AI to assist in the learning process but exams are meant to verify your personal understanding of the material.