ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022, and by January 2023, ChatGPT had become what was then the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, gaining over 100 million users in two months.
People use ChatGPT because it is useful for tasks such as generating content, answering questions, engaging in conversations and providing explanations, especially when it also understands and generates humanlike texts. ChatGPT also provides quick and versatile help, from learning new topics to automating repetitive work and generating creative ideas.
Many advantages we can get when it comes to using ChatGPT, such as..
- Getting accurate information of what we want to know
Whenever we ask a question to ChatGPT, it will always try to come up with a complete and accurate answer, using human-like texts. Through the use of natural language processing algorithms, it recognizes and responds to rudimentary questions accurately. Leaving the users satisfied with the information given to them.
- Generates ideas
ChatGPT can also provide us with new ideas to draw, write, or even create, anytime we were in need of creating a new concept. Many users use ChatGPT for this advantage too, whenever they are stuck trying to create a new idea be it for a character or a story. I often use it to generate images when I get stuck making new clothing designs for my original characters.
- Helps with our grammar
ChatGPT is excellent at editing and can assist with grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, anytime we are hesitant with our syntax. Whenever you’re hesitating in creating a sentence, thinking your grammar is still lacking, you could always use ChatGPT to help with your sentences, making sure it’s understandable. When I make stories, sometimes I get stuck on finding which words to use in a sentence, that’s why I get help from ChatGPT.
Great quantities of us gather many useful information from ChatGPT, making it one of our tools to help us overcome various problems, at the same time, making us blind to the negative impacts behind it. Here is why…
- Lower test scores in academic performances
Studies show that at least one other academic study found that college students who used AI chatbots like ChatGPT were likely to “expand inclinations for procrastination, memory loss and extinguish the students’ academic performance.” Students who excessively use ChatGPT, may reduce their own cognitive effort to complete tasks, which results in poor memory and understanding of the material.
Incorrect or misleading answers
Although ChatGPT can come up with quick responses, the accuracy and quality of the information can be different. Invalid or misleading answers or information may negatively impact learning outcomes. The more information we get from ChatGPT, the more we tend to misunderstand it with information from other sources. This is because not all information from ChatGPT is correct. For example, we get information saying a certain type of hypothesis is correct, but other sources say it’s wrong.
- Risk of plagiarism
Plagiarism is the action of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own. ChatGPT has a potential for unintentional plagiarism as it draws information from numerous sources. Plagiarism can also be caused by students having lessons in closed rooms and studying based on memorization. This could make the students rely more on information from ChatGPT and not from their own experience with the purpose of answering their questions.
Knowing the danger of plagiarism in using ChatGPT, schools need to take necessary steps to overcome this challenge. In order to overcome this, teachers must give their students project-based materials, and more outdoor learning for each subject. With this, students will not easily rely on information for other sources, instead they answer based on their experience. The down side of this is that teachers must give in more effort and time to check each student’s project results. As a student wanting the best for their school, I hope my teachers can overcome this.
Currently, in Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur, there are a few teachers who encourage students to make projects from home. For example, my physical education teacher, who assigned us to make videos of ourselves doing at least 5 movements of rope skipping, which can be done at home. Then there is my literature teacher who encourages us to make a video of a procedure in making fried rice, it also adds a lot to my experience in both literacy and cooking. Now it’s my turn to encourage all teachers to give more project-based homework or assessments like this.
These negative impacts tend to affect students more, and the risk of invalid or inaccurate answers could cause confusion and misunderstanding to students in their studies. This could lead the students to have a poor academic performance. In order to avoid the negative impacts of ChatGPT, here are my words of advice…
- Check ChatGPT’s information before accepting it
Like I said before, ChatGPT can sometimes come up with inaccurate or misleading answers. That is why I advise you to check whether the answers are valid or not. You could do this by repeating your question to search engines and checking if the information is similar, or you could ask your teachers and guardians about the information. Is it true or false?
- Don’t entirely copy the ideas ChatGPT gave
Although ChatGPT can come up with inspirational ideas, we must also come to the fact that ChatGPT draws information and ideas from various sources, which means it lacks originality. It is okay to copy a bit of the ideas given to us, but it is advisable to add our own original ideas in it. This way, we could decrease the chances of being accused of plagiarism.
- Don’t use ChatGPT too often especially during school/academic assessments
Too much use of ChatGPT can affect in ways such as making us too impassive to think with our brains and search up information on ChatGPT instead. Hence, we would lose our motivation to even think. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use ChatGPT. We could still use it, but we must know when to.
Personally, I enjoy using ChatGPT to search for new ideas for my stories. But sometimes, it just doesn’t feel right. Mostly because I didn’t come up with that idea on my own and I felt like I just copied another person’s idea. For me, I don’t like being a copycat. So, I decided to rewrite the ideas given to me, using my original ideas. Little by little, I changed the storyline, adjusted a few characters, until it started to feel like my own story.
ChatGPT is a great invention. It allows us to easily search up for answers to solve various tasks and problems in a short time. But then again, it all comes to us to make good use out of it and not become a sitting target of its negative impacts. It’s not wrong to use ChatGPT to solve our problems, but it’s us, the users, who should be aware of why or when to use it.
So ChatGPT Users: How Far Can We GO? Stay wise fellas!