More school districts push back on AI over cheating concerns
Los Angeles and New York City school districts have banned ChatGPT on school networks and devices
FOX Business’ Lydia Hu joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT and the decision by some school districts to ban the service on school networks and devices.
The artificial intelligence program ChatGPT has prompted serious cheating concerns in schools nationwide, resulting in a surge of districts deciding to ban the program on networks and devices.
FOX Business' Lydia hu joined "Varney & Co.," Wednesday, to discuss teachers' key concerns with the controversial technology as more schools start to take action.
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"They're alarmed. They're extremely concerned about how it could be used to submit essays that are not original work," the FOX Business correspondent explained to host Stuart Varney.
Former English teacher, Peter Laffin, says schools should restrict technology in classrooms amid the emergence of Open AI's new artificial intelligence chatbot.
One school district in Clifton, New Jersey is one of the many schools around the U.S. taking the initiative and decidedly banning the program. Assistant Superintendent of curriculum and instruction Janina Kusielewicz shared with Hu that the decision was made in an effort to prevent students from taking "shortcuts."
"We want to make sure that our students are well-rounded, that they're not taking shortcuts. So until we understand a program and how it could apply, we'd rather not have access to it," the assistant superintendent explained.
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Other districts banning access to the program include New York City, Los Angeles, Loudoun County, Virginia, Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, and Baltimore County schools in Maryland.
Students creating programs while using laptop amid nationwide concerns regarding a new artificial intelligence program called ChatGPT. Teachers have growing concerns that the technology could be abused and used for cheating (iStock.) (iStock)
Though many schools are strongly pushing back on ChatGPT, others are "curious" about how the program could potentially be used to their advantage as a free learning tool.
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"In some cases, [teachers are] curious about how it could be potentially leveraged to help learning. And that's why some school districts, they say, are proceeding with caution. They're going to ban access to this technology on school property, for now," Hu continued.
'The Five' panelists reacts to a new artificial intelligence bot, ChatGPT, that's capable of writing essays, books, poems and even computer code upon request.
FOX Business' Lydia Hu put the software to the test and prompted it to write an essay about New Jersey's role in the American Revolutionary War. ChatGPT was able to successfully craft an essay in a matter of seconds, but it was engulfed in factual errors.
"While it looks okay to actually read it, when you fact-check it, we've actually found some errors in here, Stuart. It actually says that the first time the Declaration of Independence was read to the Continental Army in 1776 happened in Trenton, New Jersey. But actually, that event happened in New York, according to the Library of Congress," Lydia Hu explained.
A logo of ChatGPT is featured on a cellphone as many parents, teachers, and school districts across the country start to sound the alarm on the program. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"So therein lies the problem with technology like this makes it, extremely easy in a matter of seconds to generate an essay. But even at a learning perspective, it's not 100% accurate," Lydia Hu concluded.
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