How I beat ChatGPT…for now

You can’t go a day without seeing a news story about the trouble with artificial intelligence (AI).

It is making us less smart, with some in the media wondering if we are “on the road to Idiocracy.” It is dampening innovation and creativity, with one author claiming, “When artists, writers, and musicians become dependent on AI for inspiration and execution, their ability to innovate may wane.” It is also short-circuiting teaching and learning. As an educator, I am particularly interested in this aspect of AI and have been reading for a few years now about how “the world of higher education is playing a familiar game of catch-up, adjusting their rules, expectations, and perceptions…”

This last concern is usually brought up in reference to ChatGPT. I am no stranger to that application and use it for both professional and personal content creation. I have none of the fear and trepidation so many of my colleagues articulate.

In my courses, I encourage students to use ChatGPT to complete their assignments. I do not even require them to tell me when or how they use the application. Some educators have taken to requiring students to cite each time they use ChatGPT or even submit chat transcripts with their assignments. I, instead, show students during class how I used ChatGPT to generate some of the course materials we are using!

And yet, I believe I am getting higher quality work out of my students and they are learning more. In this way, I can say I have “beaten” ChatGPT…for now.