Our Department Head, Professor Eric Friginal, wrote an opinion article in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) examining the potential implications of the artificial intelligence application ChatGPT for high school and university academic activities. According to Prof. Friginal, AI technologies such as ChatGPT may present some challenges but can also provide positive teaching and learning opportunities if incorporated into the classroom with careful consideration.
Prof. Friginal suggests that ChatGPT could be utilised by instructors to increase student engagement and prepare learners for an AI-driven future. However, he notes that most academic institutions in Hong Kong banned the use of ChatGPT due to concerns about academic dishonesty. In contrast, PolyU took a proactive approach by holding webinars demonstrating ChatGPT's capabilities and limitations.
Based on Prof. Friginal's experiment using ChatGPT to evaluate essays, he identified major weaknesses in its feedback, particularly the inability to accurately cite sources or references. Despite concerns that AI tools will upend our traditions of education and learning, Prof. Friginal believes that ChatGPT and tools like it are transformative. They show the potential of AI's march from machine learning to machine consciousness, which can be leveraged and controlled by teachers and students in the writing classroom and beyond.
Read the full article from the SCMP website HERE.
