In his insightful presentation on ChatGPT and AI in education, Miller posits that, as AI tools become omnipresent and more advanced, they are destined to play a pivotal role in the workforce our students will enter. Given this inevitability, we must adapt our definitions of cheating and plagiarism to ensure their relevance to students' future endeavors.
Miller is right to highlight the necessity of drawing a clear line. Educators, schools, and even school districts need to determine what they will allow and what they won't in the era of AI. But where do we begin in this journey of redefinition?
Miller starts by offering his definitions of cheating and plagiarism. For him, cheating is when a student engages in dishonest academic practices that misrepresent their true understanding or abilities for an unfair advantage. On the other hand, plagiarism occurs when a student claims someone else's work as their own creation.
These definitions underscore an important reality: the prevalence of gray areas. In the age of AI, it's challenging to discern what genuinely falls under cheating or plagiarism, especially when AI tools are involved. Here's a practical exercise Miller presents to illustrate this ambiguity:
- A student inputs a prompt into AI, copies the response, and submits it to the teacher.
- AI generates a response, the student reads, edits, adjusts, and submits it.
- A student creates multiple AI responses, uses the best parts, edits, and submits.
- A student writes down the main ideas, and AI generates a draft, providing feedback for improvement.
- A student consults the internet/AI for ideas, then writes and submits.
- A student writes the entire assignment without consulting AI or the internet.
The gut reactions of educators to these scenarios often correlate with how our current education system operates or how we've been taught. However, as Miller astutely points out, things are changing.
The AI available today represents the most basic form of technology that our students will encounter in their lifetime. We are currently in the MySpace era of AI, and the AI they will engage with in the future will far surpass it. In just a short time frame, the growth and development of AI will be astonishing. So, when we contemplate our definitions of plagiarism and cheating, they must remain relevant to students a decade or more down the road.
Moreover, fairness requires us to consider the tools we use in our own work. If we are willing to integrate AI into our professional lives today, it is only logical to assume that its role will expand and become more pervasive in the future.
Educators find themselves in the early stages of comprehending AI and its role in the educational sphere. The path ahead doesn't demand an immediate, definitive answer. However, it does mandate the commencement of a dialogue. It's a clarion call for educators to begin the process of getting it right.
As we navigate this complex journey, Miller's insights guide us to redefine our understanding of plagiarism and cheating in a manner that aligns with the evolving role of AI in education. The future, with all its uncertainties, requires us to be adaptable, open to new ideas, and ready to set the course for the students who will soon take the helm in this brave new world of AI-driven learning.
