Did the student really write that?
January 4, 2023
Just as Robert Preston said in the Music Man, “There’s big trouble in river city,” college professors and all teachers requiring written materials are saying, “there’s big trouble discerning who wrote this essay.” Why is that so if the student’s name is on the top of the paper?
Back in the “old days,” mom, dad, or someone else could assist a struggling student with their writing. Today, there is a new game in town, and they play at a very sophisticated level. It is known as AI, artificial intelligence, and be assured, it is the real deal.
Stephen Marche recently wrote an article in The Atlantic titled,
The College Essay is Dead. The culprit in this case is GPT-3, a language model that transfers prompts and ideas into text. Do some potential candidates use this and other systems for their admission essay? Most definitely! Albert Einstein didn’t have GPT-3 or the Internet, yet he apparently used ideas that were not original when he said:
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
That’s right, and it doesn’t have to be a college essay or a complex formula. It could be something as simple as your grandchild is going off to college and you want to write them a letter of advice, and perhaps enclose a check. You enroll in the GPT-3 program, tell them about the heartfelt wishes you have for your progeny, and let it do the work almost instantly. That’s right, it is like magic. Appearing on the screen is the perfect letter to send to Susie.
We have been forewarned about the potential of AI since its conception, and eight years ago, Elon Musk of Tesla/Twitter/billionaire fame gave caution at MIT’s AeroAstro Centennial Symposium.
“I’m increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish. I mean with artificial intelligence; we’re summoning the demon.”
How prescient Elon! The demon is here, and he be us. Fast forward to January 4, 2023—a New Yok Times full page article titled, Fourth Grader or Chatbot? Citing another AI text program, the researchers submitted two fourth grader’s essays and a third from ChatGPT to an expert panel. Surprise! None could tell the difference between the children’s and bot’s (robot) essays. Teachers and parents beware—who is doing the homework? They found the same result with eighth grade essays.
I have a suggestion that is not original, yet has not been seriously discussed or implemented as part of a child’s formal schooling. Bring back the cursive handwriting curriculum. Have the cursive alphabet on the front wall above the whiteboard (formerly blackboard). Sadly 41 states do not mandate teaching that skill. Aside from the motor and concentration benefits of cursive, there is another to combat the bot in AI.
Assemble the students who desire to attend your college, give them general topics, and have them HANDWRITE their answers in a blue book (remember them?) without the aid of any device. Simple solution—complex situation. This exam can be given in rooms that were used for the SATs before students were permitted to use the computer. Sometimes advanced technology hinders the purity of the product. Let’s instill integrity in education, and while we’re at it, all components of our society.
Studies have shown that at age eight a child is ready to learn cursive, and within a reasonable time, master the skill with accuracy and speed. Sure, some don’t “get it,” but isn’t that true with all school subjects. Start them while they are young, because there is a steep downward slide as one gets older. Most can testify that the formation of words gets a bit shakier. But then again, we elders are not submitting essays for entrance into college.