INDIANAPOLIS — We’ve seen everything from the calculator to Cliffs Notes cause concern in the classroom.
Now, there is a new player called ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is artificial intelligence that generates responses to requests like "write a 250-word summary of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' at high school reading level."
And the answers it generates are often really good.
Brian Gross is a Latin teacher at Cathedral High School. He said the technology is here to stay, so he's using it in the classroom.
"Write me a story about a monkey and let it be Latin, and on the fly, it will produce pretty good Latin," Gross said.
Then, students edit the essay for practice. That makes class interactive for the students and efficient for Gross.
At Ball State University, Dr. Josh Fisher also is using ChatGPT in his storytelling class.
"Say somebody, for example, is creating a story about a pirate, they can write their dialogue," Fisher said, "then ask ChatGPT to write it in the tone of a pirate. And it adds all the arrs and parrots and everything else."
While both Gross and Fisher both say they have not had an issue with cheating, teachers can ask ChatGPT to tattle on itself.
Teachers can insert the passage along with the prompt, "Did you generate this message?"
But like many products, ChatGPT is not perfect.
We asked ChatGPT for the history of WTHR and it got some things wrong.
While AI can be helpful, it might be best used as a springboard, not a source.