Ask AI, Relax?

BY PRAMOD KANAKATH

Since its launch in November 2021, the Microsoft-supported ChatGPT from OpenAI has received more than one hundred million subscribers around the world. With its free and friendly operating system, it has attracted people from various parts of life, especially from the academic world. Teachers and students started using ChatGPT to test its strengths, abilities, and skills to respond to curriculum-based questions. The results have been amazing with teachers getting their time cut short in producing lesson materials and students taking advantage of a more personalised learning experience where they can selfassess and get materials suited to their needs. But then, cheating in assessments has also taken a new turn.

In Australia, two states – New South Wales and Queensland – recently banned the use of AI in their schools after a spurt in the use of ChatGPT by students to do assessments. ChatGPT has allowed them to produce materials without really understanding the content, causing huge concerns for teachers. Cheating cases have been reported from other parts of the world too.

This has given a new form to plagiarism which was previously dependent on search engines and peer-to-peer transactions. ChatGPT gets ready-made answers that just need clicking to submit your work. One of the most curious “cheating cases” related to AI has come from outside the world of education. An Australian firm called Absolutely AI tested its ability by participating in a photography competition ( https://www.australianphotography.com/ news/ai-generated-image-wins-australianphoto-comp) where it entered its AIgenerated image and won the top prize.

Upon receiving the cash prize, however, the company came clean on its act, admitting the fact and returning the money. The company expressed its objective of testing AI’s capabilities in clear-cut terms, but their fooling of the judges may have revealed a portent of things to come.

As part of my experiments, I tested ChatGPT’s ability not just to learn about what it can produce as a response to questions, but also to find out how students may use the system, how it can benefit them, as well as how it can take them away from their learning realms. The ChatGPT- generated answers to Cambridge or IB-styled questions are mostly to the point, arranged in neat paragraphs and very technical in nature. Students need to be smart enough to give additional instructions to get responses that will meet the requirements of the examiners. In some cases, for example, in a story piece that I generated after typing down a Cambridge

AS Level English question with extra instructions, I received aspects of narrative writing with specific characters, dialogues and setting that may fulfil the needs of a given mark scheme.

Even then, a student would only be able to get a pass, but not one of the top bands as the work would still need some finetuning. What the AI cannot generate is figurative language that is contextually suited, varied sentence structures, experimental vocabulary, and interior monologues to reveal the characters’ thinking processes. In an essay writing situation, the AIgenerated answer would don the look of a business-like manner of presenting oneself at a party – with crisp and well-chiselled paragraphs, but without providing examples and anecdotes to prove a point. Extra instructions might not include aspects a student might wish to have to achieve the desired band.

Here is where the academic world needs to see and make themselves beneficiaries of AI rather than customers who do not check the quality of its products. Just as the internet has served us as a tool in our studies, AI needs to be seen in the same status. Its weakness vis-à-vis being biased, not having human aspects and not encouraging critical thinking skills needs to be emphasised in classrooms to educate the younger generation who might be vulnerable to online abracadabra.

Students need to be aware that teachers are the best people on earth to understand their standard levels in academic performance. Thus, any anomalous submission of work is bound to face scrutiny. This will inevitably result in an investigation into plagiarismrelated offences and sanctions based on school policies. On a more serious level, such work submissions will only deprive students of practising their skills learnt as part of lessons.

BALI

Exclusive EV Transport and Solar Panel Charging Hub Operation at The Apurva Kempinski Bali

The Apurva Kempinski Bali has partnered with Indonesia’s premium sustainable brands, such as Nissan LEAF, Bank Central Asia and Danone Indonesia, to operate the Electric Vehicle Experience and Solar Panel Charging Hub This partnership focuses on creating a more environmentally friendly option for travellers. Those who stay at the resort can now use Nissan’s electric vehicle, Nissan LEAF, and contribute to reducing carbon emissions as they explore the Nusa Dua area and adjacent attractions. To ensure a seamless experience, the resort also has its own EV charging station, making it the only resort in Bali to have this essential site.

“We have a big vision in terms of sustainability, and for us to achieve our goals, it is important for us to find and work together with those who share our vision,” shared General Manager, Vincent Guironnet.

The Apurva Kempinski Bali has been consistently pushing out initiatives that are centred on embedding a sustainable plan into its programmes and guest experiences. As a leading presence on Bali’s hospitality scene, it is committed to inspiring the local community with a series of efforts, such as creating a sustainable wedding package and using its rooftop space to grow various types of greens for a more sustainable kitchen in the resort.

Similarly, Nissan builds on its decades-long programmes to reduce emissions and provide electric vehicle technologies that benefit the environment and society, while the Solar Panel Charging Hub cooperation with Bank Central Asia and Danone Indonesia elevates the partnership to a different level. Bank Central Asia is committed to working towards Indonesia’s Sustainable Development Goals and working collaboratively with the government to pursue this movement.