UAE university students use ChatGPT responsibly, says professor

For Dubai university student Bola Ajike, Chat GPT is a very useful tool to get ideas for projects or presentations. “I've used ChatGPT for a course in which I had to make a training session so that I could get ideas for an icebreaker,” she said. However, she said that she has never used the tool for writing assignments or papers.

According to educators in the UAE, Bola is not alone in being cautious about the use of AI tools for their assignments. Dr Vic Benuyenah, Professor at the University of Birmingham has said that despite the immense popularity of ChatGPT and other AI tools, students have been very responsible in using them. “In my recent research that sampled students across all levels of study, participants reported a mixed view on the use of ChatGPT, with the majority indicating that they would not expect ChatGPT to be permitted in assignment writing,” said.

He further added that students generally wanted to do the right thing. “Students are aware of the consequences of breaching the academic integrity policy,” he said. “I have seen a very hard-working group of students across disciplines, and despite the freely available ChatGPT and Bard, it is not common to see a blatant neglect of the assessment protocol, which requires students to write their own coursework assessment based on what they have learnt in the classroom.

His views were echoed by another Dubai university student Shireen Mansoor, who said she uses ChatGPT for summarizing things. “I don't use it to write my assignments because I prefer writing it on my own,” she said. “I don't like the writing style of the bot. Also, I know that my university plagiarism detector can detect ChatGPT and I don't want to risk it. It is just not worth it.”

Impact

ChatGPT and other AI tools have been hotly debated in recent times as universities across the world raced to build plagiarism detectors to stop students from using them unscrupulously. “Whilst all universities would have their own defined safeguards, what is common is the urgency to revise existing measures to ensure that AI complements existing teaching and learning structures but, at the same time, ensure that regulations and policies cover the potential of AI-related academic misconduct,” said Dr. Benuyenah.

However, according to him, it could take years to study the impact of these tools on education. “Having only been in existence for less than a year, it is impossible to determine exactly how education has been affected [by ChatGPT],” he said. “One clear impact is the effect of AI in general on how assessments have to be developed to maintain the integrity of the educational system as a whole. Educators are aware that teaching and learning need to be done in a way that is slightly different from 10 or 20 years ago. As a new phenomenon, it will take time for us to fully understand the benefits and risks of ChatGPT in the field of education.”

Cautious approach

Despite its evident benefits, according to Dr. Benuyenah, teachers have been wary about using ChatGPT. “In most industries, the use of AI can help improve efficiency and enhance quality. In the academic world, however, we are cautious about where to apply AI and where to not do so – this approach is largely guided by university regulation and policy but also our individual judgement,” he said. “From an individual standpoint, I cherish the use of textbooks written by academics, and I do not think that I will be replacing my core texts anytime soon with chatbots.”

He also pointed out that journals are not ready to accept materials produced for publication purposes if such materials are authored by AI. “This is important to maintain human authorship of research, which is the very foundation of all academic institutions,” he said.

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