The International Baccalaureate stated that school children can now quote content generated using ChatGPT in their essays.
The IB offers an alternative qualification to A levels and Highers. Students can use the chatbot, but they must be clear about what they are quoting.
ChatGPT has been a hit since November’s public release. It can produce effective responses to text prompts and even requests for essays.
The possibility of ChatGPT-based cheating has alarmed academics and teachers, but Matt Glanville from the IB’s assessment principles practice said that the chatbot should be seen as an “extraordinary opportunity.”
Glanville told the reporters that we should treat the responses as any other source of information in essays.
The line between ChatGPT use and original work is the same as when you are using ideas from the internet or other sources. He said any material or quote taken from another source must be acknowledged in the text and properly referenced in the bibliography.
Every year, thousands of children in the UK take the IB at over 120 schools. Glanville stated that essay writing would be less prominent in the future qualifications process due to the rise in chatbot technology.
“Essay writing is being challenged by new technology, and it’s not surprising that it will be less prominent in the future.”
He said, “When AI can essentially create essays at the touch of a button, we need to teach our students different skills such as understanding whether the essay is good, if it has missed context or has used biased data, or if its creativity is lacking. These skills will be more important than writing essays, so we must ensure that the assessments we assign reflect these essential skills.
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