 |
| OpenAI wants to tap into the potential of ChatGPT in education to support both teachers and students. (Source: unrulr) |
OpenAI CEO Brad Lightcap recently shared that the company will form a team to explore educational applications of AI, a technology that threatens to upend industries, introduce new laws, and become a ubiquitous learning tool.
“Most teachers are trying to figure out how to incorporate ChatGPT into their curriculum and into the way they teach,” Lightcap said at the INSEAD Americas conference last week. “OpenAI is trying to help them consider all the possibilities, and maybe next year we’ll form a group with the sole purpose of doing that.”
With billions of dollars invested by Microsoft, OpenAI created an AI “craze” in November 2022 with its chatbot ChatGPT. It quickly became one of the fastest-growing applications in the world. Trained on streams of data, generative AI can create entirely new content that looks like a human, helping users complete homework, write scientific papers, or even write novels. After ChatGPT was launched, regulators had to race to catch up with the new technology: the European Union revised the AI Act and the US launched efforts to regulate AI.
Meanwhile, teachers realized that ChatGPT could be used as a cheating and plagiarism tool, which sparked a backlash and led to chatbots being banned in many schools. According to Lightcap, teachers thought it was “the worst thing that ever happened.” But within months, they realized how beneficial ChatGPT could be.
In an emailed statement, an OpenAI spokesperson said AI can be a tool to aid learning and education. The company is introducing educators to ChatGPT’s capabilities and what they are doing to improve it, so teachers can understand the potential benefits and misuses of AI and how to apply it in the classroom.
OpenAI is partnering with educational organizations like Khan Academy to create AI tutors and with Schmidt Futures to fund education teams in underserved communities. The market is huge. Global spending on education and training will reach $10 trillion by 2030, according to estimates from Australian research firm HolonIQ.
There are countless ways to use ChatGPT in the classroom, says former OpenAI employee Andrew Mayne. For students, it could be a tutor or adapt content for different learning styles. For teachers, it could help write curriculum or be a creative classroom assistant, like writing an introduction in Old English in a class about medieval times.
Still, others see a potential “quagmire” of child privacy issues if chatbots are promoted in schools. Different online privacy laws apply to children in many countries. While users must be over 13 to use ChatGPT, and parents must give permission if users are between 13 and 18, most countries do not have age verification processes.
Source
Comment (0)