How ChatGPT helps in clearing exams? This student has an answer
2 min read . Updated: 09 Feb 2023, 07:08 PM IST
PremiumMonths after its launch, ChatGPT has become the talk of the town and has forced people wondering its use in different fields. A student from UK found how the chatbot can be used by students to ‘cheat their way’ in exams
After evoking fears of job loss and proving Artificial Intelligence supremacy, Open AI's ChatGPT was used by a student to prove its potential of becoming a cheating tool to clear exams.
Recently, a UK graduate used the controversial AI chatbot to write an essay. To his surprise he was even awarded with passing grades for it, reported The Independent.
Pieter Snepvangers graduated from University of Bristol last year on his own. But looking at the buzz around ChatGPT he decided to test whether it can be used for completing theory assignments and coursework.
He used the bot to put together a 2,000 word piece on social policy. The assignment which is supposed to be completed by students in 12 weeks was finished by the bot in 20 minutes.
Afterward, Pieter asked one of the lecturers of the Russell Group university to asses the work and give it marks. However, he was left completely shocked seeing the result he got. The tutor said they would have given it a score of 53, which is a 2/2. This much marks were sufficient for a student to pass the exam.
The lecturer also said that it was difficult to figure out if the test was written by AI or by a student. However, he admitted that there was something ‘fishy’ about the assignment as it had lacked depth or proper analysis. However, such kinds of assignments could be approved by assuming it to be the work of a ‘lazy’ student.
To his shock, the lecturer also admitted to Pieter that students could “cheat their way" to a passing grade, reported the Independent.
Pieter explained that first he tried simply asking ChatGPT the essay question and requested 2,000 words with references. In the beginning, software gave wonly 365 words at first. It was only 15 per cent of the requested number.
Then Pieter tried to get the assignment done in the other way around. He asked the software 10 separate questions related to the essay question. With this, he managed to get 3,500 words from the software. Later, with some copy-pasting, and restructuring of these paragraphs, Pieter came up with a 2,000 words long essay in just 20 minutes. He made it clear that he didn't change or rewrite any of the words in the essay.
“All in all, 20 minutes to produce an essay which is supposed to demonstrate 12 weeks of learning.Not bad. I nervously sent it off to my lecturer and awaited the verdict," quoted The Independent.
After the assessment, Pieter was shocked to get 2:2 for the assignment prepared by the AI.
Explaining about the assignment the lecturer said the essay wasn't referenced and was very general in nature. There was no detail about the issue as well. The article was not theoretically or conceptually advanced.
“This could be a student who has attended classes and has engaged with the topic of the unit. The content of the essay, this could be somebody that’s been in my classes. It wasn’t the most terrible in terms of content," said the lecturer.
The incident has become the testimony of the fears and concerns raised by several universities and education institutes across the world of its use as a tool to cheat examinations. Students in America have been banned from using the software in schools. Whereas, UK universities are finding way to identify whether the assignments are the work of students or AI.
