Professors and students discuss the ethical concerns of AI in academia

^{According to a poll of 100 students conducted by The Gazette, 41 out of 100 students on campus have used Chat GPT in school.}  

^{Chat GPT is a website platform where you can ask AI questions and the technology will do its best to give a response. The program has the possibility to slowly become either a nightmare or revolution for the English department.}  

^{Dr. Ross, the English department chair, said “I do not encourage Chat GPT for academic purposes.” Though she can also understand how instructors view it as a form of Wikipedia that can provide guidance on assignments to direct them to more research. Dr. Ross is concerned that Chat GPT will be taken for granted in the English department.}  

^{“I’ve encountered students who got Chat GPT to write a paper, and they turn in exactly what they got from Chat GPT.” Dr. Ross calls the AI platform “labor intensive” for professors that must find ways to navigate around Chat GPT. “One way we might try and take care of that is with citations,” Ross said. She hopes that moving forward the English department can find more ways to use it appropriately in classrooms.}  

^{Ziyyah Gardener, a junior biology major, does not use Chat GPT because she would rather know the background than to just accept and turn in random information. She believes Chat GPT can be useful to students, saying “some people use it as something to fall back on when under pressure, and to find recourses.”}  

^{Although she believes Chat GPT will not benefit Langston as a whole, she thinks it will grow by connecting with professionals and exchanging ideas with Langston students.}  

^{“As far as class wise, when it comes to papers it will end up hurting the student in the end.” This can be seen with students not present in the classroom, such as remote or online. Gardener thinks “it makes it so much easier” on students only taking online classes because the teachers usually do not look into assignments as they would in an in-person class.}  

^{James Kliewer, a new assistant professor in the English department, encourages students to use Chat GPT in the classroom for specific tasks, for instance an outline or structural argument. He also emphasizes the need for academic honesty, warning students to avoid passing off words that are created by AI as their own creation.}  

^{“I have seen an uptick in AI related plagiarism, which is to be expected,” Kliewer said. He has started to have students cite Chat GPT just as they would any other source they find information through. Kliewer navigates around Chat GPT by following the classroom ethics and university academic integrity policies that are already put in place.}  

^{He also believes that Langston will grow to embrace AI technology, but Kliewer said “it is too soon to determine whether it will be used on campus. If it’s used ethically, then it will be a huge benefit to students at Langston.”}  

^{Dr. Grayson, the chair of both the computer science and management information science departments, fully embraces Chat GPT. He “encourages students to use it to further their understanding,” and he also believes that “it will allow us to move forward faster.”}  

^{Chat GPT is something Grayson does not have to worry about in classes because he challenges his students “to think thoroughly, deeply, and beyond it,” he said. Grayson hopes that Langston will include Chat GPT in more ways by “implementing it in classes as a tutor, also as a tool that allows students to test their knowledge.” This way if Chat GPT is embraced it will allow students to be more productive.}   

^{This new wave of technology first came out on November 30th of 2022. AI tasks can include solving math equations, creating English format structures, generating headlines for stories, and giving general information that dates up to the year 2021. Although this AI platform may be beneficial in many ways, let this also be a reminder that Langston does not condone any form of plagiarism.} 

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The Gazette serves as the student voice of Langston University. It is produced within the Department of Communication as a teaching tool and local news source for the campus community. The views and opinions expressed within are those of the writers whose names appear with the articles and do not necessarily represent the views of Langston University.