With a new tool that can help teachers detect whether a student or artificial intelligence wrote that homework, the creator of ChatGPT is attempting to mitigate its reputation as a freewheeling cheating machine.
The new AI Text Classifier released by OpenAI on Tuesday comes after a weeks-long debate in schools and colleges over concerns that ChatGPT’s ability to write almost anything on command could fuel academic dishonesty and impede learning.
OpenAI warns that its new tool, like others already available, is not perfect. The method for detecting AI-written text is “imperfect and will be incorrect at times,” according to Jan Leike, the head of OpenAI’s alignment team tasked with making its systems safer.
“Because of that, it shouldn’t be solely relied upon when making decisions,” Leike said.
Teenagers and college students were among the millions of people who began experimenting with ChatGPT after it was released as a free app on OpenAI’s website on November 30. While many found creative and harmless ways to use it, the ease with which it could answer take-home test questions and assist with other assignments caused some educators to panic.
By the time the new school year began, New York City, Los Angeles, and other major public school districts had begun to prohibit its use in classrooms and on school devices.