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A Moral Panic: ChatGPT and the Gamification of Education

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Summary

OpenAI's release of ChatGPT, a free chatbot that produces AI-generated text, has caused a moral panic about its potential to be used as a cheating tool in school. The current reaction to ChatGPT has been characterized by an unusually high level of fear and desperation, as if it were threatening the very existence of higher education. Educators are afraid because the misuse of ChatGPT is an example of the gamification of education, which causes students to become obsessed with grades, GPAs, and degrees rather than the values and goals of education. The conversation should shift to focus on how to lessen the emphasis on grades and GPAs and help students reconnect with the true values of education.

Q&As

What is ChatGPT and what is the moral panic surrounding it?
ChatGPT is a free chatbot that produces AI-generated text. The moral panic surrounding it is that it could be used to cheat in school.

How does cheating in competitive contexts differ from cheating in education?
Cheating in competitive contexts is said to be morally wrong because of the harm done to others in virtue of gaining an unfair advantage over one’s competitors. In the context of education, cheating can result in similar unfair advantages but the moral harm that tends to take center stage is the harm done to oneself.

What is gamification and how has it impacted students' values?
Gamification refers to the process of adding game-like elements, such as points, scores, rankings and badges, to make non-game activities more pleasurable. Gamification has transformed students' values such that "getting an A" or "graduating with a 4.0" becomes the end.

What is the current conversation surrounding ChatGPT?
The current conversation surrounding ChatGPT is focused on making it more difficult for students to cheat, as well as the recent announcement from OpenAI that they will start charging people to access a premium version of ChatGPT and restricting services provided by the free version.

How can the emphasis on grades and GPAs be diminished in order to help students reconnect with the true values of education?
To diminish the emphasis placed on grades and GPAs, educators should focus on promoting learning outcomes in the face of ChatGPT, as well as helping students reconnect with the true values of education. This could be done by encouraging students to focus on meaningful values that can be realized in the context of education, such as personal transformation, the cultivation of skills, exposure to diverse worldviews, and becoming a more informed citizen.

AI Comments

👍 This article offers an insightful perspective on the gamification of education and how ChatGPT's release has shifted the conversation about cheating in school. It raises important questions about the true values of education and what should be done to help students reconnect with them.

👎 This article is overly long and could have been more concisely written. It also fails to offer any concrete solutions to the gamification of education and the potential misuse of ChatGPT.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about the moral panic that's been sparked by ChatGPT, an AI-generated chatbot, and how it could be used to cheat in school exams. It also talks about the gamification of education and how it's changing students' values and goals.

Friend: That's really interesting. So, what are some of the implications of this article?

Me: Well, the article suggests that the panic surrounding ChatGPT is more about the expectation that students won't be able to resist the temptation to use it, rather than the actual capabilities of the chatbot. It also argues that the gamification of education is contributing to this problem, as students become increasingly obsessed with grades and GPAs, and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve them. The article suggests that educators should focus on how to diminish the emphasis placed on grades and GPAs in order to help students reconnect with the true values of education.

Action items

Educators should create and implement strategies to reduce the emphasis placed on grades and GPAs in order to help students reconnect with the true values of education.
Educators should create and implement strategies to promote learning outcomes in the face of ChatGPT.
Educators should create and implement strategies to encourage students to think critically about the purpose of education and how to achieve alignment between these values and the ones that students come to be motivated by.

Technical terms

ChatGPT: ChatGPT is a free chatbot released by OpenAI in November 2020 that produces AI-generated text.
Gamification: Gamification is the process of adding game-like elements, such as points, scores, rankings and badges, to make non-game activities more pleasurable.
Moral Panic: A moral panic is an intense fear or anxiety about a perceived threat to society, typically caused by the media or other forms of public discourse.
CheatGPT: CheatGPT is a term used to describe the potential misuse of ChatGPT by students to gain an unfair advantage in their studies.
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is the commitment to ethical and honest behavior in academic pursuits, including the respect for the intellectual property of others.