Opinion: If we can’t beat AI, we need to embrace it

A world of artificial intelligence [AI] is not approaching. It’s already here.

Since its initial launch in November 2022, ChatGPT, a chatbot released by the technology research company OpenAI, has been a powerful tool in aiding people to perform human-like writing tasks with remarkable speed and skill.

From writing realistic work emails to debugging complex lines of computer code, ChatGPT is capable of it all.

Though the exponentially growing improvements of AI platforms are undeniably historic milestones, educators across the world express opposition to the spread of such technologies, executing harsh measures to prevent students from utilizing AI for school.

Banning AI technologies in a classroom environment is a reasonable response to the alarming potential and growing power of ChatGPT. This is just as competent in drafting literary analysis essays or solving mathematical proofs.

In a world where AI will only prosper further from now, attempting to restrict any sort of AI usage for educational purposes is a nearsighted response that fails to counter any real problem.

Instead of pushing futile bans to counter the unavoidable developments of AI, educators should consider embracing this new factor and implementing changes in classrooms to reflect the current technologically advanced society. In the long run, working to complement ChatGPT is far more pragmatic than trying to limit it.

“Designing authentic tasks that are highly personalized and contextualized, and perhaps involve multimedia elements, will mean that students can only use tools like ChatGPT as a starting point. Teachers may choose to use AI as a prompt for discussion and collective critique that students will then need to build upon,” wrote Matt Bower, interim dean and professor of the Macquarie University School of Education, in a recent Los Angeles Times editorial.

Using technology as calculators, spell-checkers and MLA format generators is typical in educational settings. And even if ChatGPT, admittedly, varies from websites like Grammarly or Easybib, the future holds no promises to how normalized AI technologies can become.

At the end of the day, AI is unstoppable. Though ChatGPT may be the knowers, students still remain the thinkers.