Elon Musk has done it again: He’s on the news. Sometimes his clickable comments are bombastic and jarring just to get attention. But his and other experts’ calls for a moratorium on all AI systems, without careful consideration and, in some cases, regulation, will have meaningful implications for technologies with little understanding of the implications of AI. A thoughtful and long-awaited proposal for public debate. .
Academia has seen artificial intelligence iterations begin to overturn the face of fair education indicators, but some feel that the cry of critics is unfounded and simply stems from a few idiots afraid of new technology. However, the latest version of ChatGPT (version 4) should silence that discussion.
For example, consider the impact of AI on college applications. The AI didn’t just kill it. It’s already starting to rot.
With version 4, the AI detector is basically useless. Usually, changing just a few sentences was enough to make the AI detector declare the text to be written by a human.
But what about essay quality? Do essays written by ChatGPT actually help students get into college? Absolutely.
ChatGPT is so good at imitating the writing style that people type that they can’t understand it, so students can easily use essays that other students have passed in top schools and have ChatGPT write essays based on those essays. can. Clearly this is a problem.
For example, Johns Hopkins University has released over 40 “worked essays.”
I tested how well ChatGPT could imitate a “successful essay” and was amazed by the results. You instructed ChatGPT to answer the essay prompt. ChatGPT has created what he would call one of the best student-written applications of her essays I’ve ever read. The first sentence is: “Growing up in a family of avid gardeners, I always found solace in the bright colors of flowers and the quiet whisper of leaves rustling in the breeze.” It gains beauty and strength to support the discovery of its mission. Gardening analogies are woven throughout. I have come to understand that the beauty of my garden is not in its final form, but in an ever-evolving journey of self-discovery and growth. ” Great essay. nobody wrote.
We already knew that ChatGPT could write a decent essay. Now I know I can write an essay that is in the top 1% of essay writers. Students can also tell ChatGPT to ‘rewrite this and make it better’. For free he takes less than a minute.
Indeed, ChatGPT has only amplified an already (ignored) problem. Many students with wealthy parents have already not written their essays. If you google “write a college application” you’ll see what I mean. Also, even if students write their own drafts (with guidance on what to write), their drafts are processed so highly by professional essay editors that the original essay becomes almost unrecognizable. increase. This common practice may be one reason why essay quality correlates more with wealth than her SAT/ACT score. At least the SAT/ACT exams require students to actually learn and demonstrate their knowledge and skills on exam day, while the wealthy hire professionals to write some or all of college essays for their kids. You can write
Universities say they want students to be authentic in their applications. If that’s true, universities should change their application essay process or eliminate personal essays altogether There is no worse way to get to know an applicant than to make judgments about jobs that may not be the applicant’s own and nothing may be true about the applicant.
Heed the advice of experts like Musk, and if you pause AI development, don’t let the richest and most powerful decide what happens next. We have to think about the potential for AI to permeate systems and processes at every level of our lives, for better or worse. In higher education, the answer is not to discard the application his essay. It is very important for students to have the opportunity to show admissions officers who they are. However, if the essay is to be kept, it must be verified. If universities care about the half-fairness they profess, they change the process so that students are judged on what they write and on their own true personal story.
David Brobaum is a nationally recognized expert in the admissions and college admissions industry. he is a member of the board of directors National Exam Preparation Association, serves to support the proper use of admissions tests. In 2013, he co-founded an education company summit preparation, SAT and ACT tutoring. follow him on twitter @David_Blobaum.
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