UWI talks AI, ChatGPT in education system

As a result of recent artificial intelligence (AI) development, educational institutes are finding it difficult to decipher whether or not their students are actually grasping the learning material and producing original work.

UWI held a vice-chancellor forum entitled AI: A Blessing or a Curse for Higher Education on Tuesday, centred on ChatGPT. The discussion aimed to inform people about the uses of AI, specifically ChatGPT, and how it can serve as a tool for higher education if used properly.

ChatGPT is a computer program, launched last November, which uses a type of AI called a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT). GPT feeds off from a lot of data – around 570 gigabytes of data, or the equivalent of 1.3 million books – through different techniques from machine learning.

The AI generates the most probable outcome in response to a statement or question someone asks. Though ChatGPT has taken over tech news, it has no information past 2021, but the program is a work in progress.

The panel consisted of Dr Emma Sabzalieva, head of research and foresight, Unesco International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC); Patti West-Smith, director of the customer engagement team of Turnitin; Arianna Valentini, research and foresight analyst of Unesco IESALC; and Dr Margaret Niles, manager of research insights and products innovation at the Caribbean Examination Council.

In her introduction, Niles asked, “It is an opportunity for the learning-teaching transaction to be re-evaluated and recalibrated.

"So how do we exist with this tool? Do we resist it? Do we find a way to circumvent it?

"My approach is that we should use it for good and teach the next generation how to continue to reinvent themselves so that they have the tools (with) which they can exist in a rapidly changing labour market.”

West-Smith added that AI comes with a lot of obligations – understanding AI’s promise, risk, what it does well and what it doesn’t.

She said, “Another obligation that comes with the AI tools into the classroom environment is to help students understand how to harness the power, what the limitations are and how to use it ethically.”

West-Smith said the reason for teaching students of AI so in-depth is to help equip them for the future world of work, which will require them to be knowledgeable on AI and the tools that come from it.

Sabzalieva said focus would need to be placed on the infrastructure – proper and secure internet access and electricity – which is relevant for these upcoming tools.

Valentini added that though AI is a useful tool, it can be biased, since it depends on the programming and the sources it is pulling information from.

She said, “There are gender biases, for example, if you were to ask ChatGPT to list of ten modern philosophers, it will most likely give a list of male philosophers coming from the west, where(as) are there are many female philosophers coming from there, Asia or the Caribbean.”

The panel couldn’t conclude whether AI is a blessing or a curse, but decided it can be helpful to students in higher education.