Here are the key points from our webinar ChatGPT: an enemy of teachers?, organised by Comprehensive Courses.
There, the project leader SmartTEAM, Mariano Batistelli spoke with Patricio Videla from Integralis and Marisol Mañá and Josefina Arrighi from Pulso Educación about the challenges posed by artificial intelligence in the field of education.
In this article, we’d like to share with you some key points from the webinar:
ChatGPT, a new tool
ChatGPT is a language model, a type of artificial intelligence capable of interacting with users in natural language; in other words, it can interpret and generate text using our language. Artificial intelligence, which is not new – its origins date back to the middle of the last century – consists of systems that seek to emulate the functioning of the brain’s neural networks; in other words, they are systems that generate complex circuits of processing units which simulate the behaviour of a neuron. Each of these nodes are interconnected so that certain tickets have certain outings.
This approach certainly raises concerns and prompts many questions amongst teachers: What do we do now? How can we tell whether pupils’ work is their own or not? What impact does the chat feature have on the development of young people’s critical thinking?
However, rather than fearing it, we must see it for what it is: yet another tool. ChatGPT is, after all, just a tool. It’s set to change paradigms, of course! But for us as teachers, it presents a different kind of challenge, and we need to decide what stance we’re going to take: will I try to turn a blind eye and carry on teaching in the same way…? Or will I learn to incorporate these new technologies into the way I teach and assess…?
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ChatGPT is a revolution
As Josefina Arrighi mentioned, ChatGPT is, in a way, set to to wake us up. It is a revolution in education. And like any revolution, it brings opportunities. We must ask ourselves what opportunities the emergence of AI presents. Can the school system, which is over a century old, remain exactly as it is? Can we continue to teach in exactly the same way?
The emergence of chat reveals a reality to us and poses the question: are we going to continue making superficial changes to education? Or are we going to consider a profound transformation?
ChatGPT and skills development
Chat challenges us, invites us and shakes us up, prompting us to work and assess things differently. As well as providing us with new tools, it puts the school in a tight spot. It asks us: are we just going to give the school a facelift, or are we going to bring about a genuine transformation?
The school has been in a state of crisis for many, many years. It is crying out for change. And this change must be based on several key areas. One of these is the skills education, that is to say, to focus on capacity-building that is meaningful and visible to students.
To achieve meaningful learning, the learner must go through the experience. They must engage with reality. ChatGPT can be an ally in this, as it can retrieve information from there. But then they will inevitably have to engage with reality to to verify. And this is when skills develop significantly.
It is the school’s role to bring pupils into direct contact with reality. Skills are developed through experience, through this contact with reality. Chat is a tool which, if we know how to use it, will be a great help to us. However, it lacks that experience.
It is an opportunity for genuine transformation
In conclusion, ChatGPT is here to wake us up, to shake us out of our complacency, and to invite us to embark on that path of innovation and transformation that schools so desperately need. It is now up to us, as educators, to decide how we will rise to this challenge.
