Researchers flag plagiarism concerns amid AI craze…in paper written by ChatGPT
1 min read 20 Mar 2023, 04:26 AM ISTChatGPT has more than 100 million active users and receives over 10 million queries per day - including requests to pen research papers on how to ‘ensure academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT’
PremiumIn recent weeks ChatGPT and its brethren have been used to write everything from Valentine's Day confessionals to academic essays for school exams. The chatbot has more than 100 million active users and receives over 10 million queries per day. But as it's popularity continues to grow, many have also flagged its potential for misuse.
“The use of chatAPIs and GPT-3 in higher education has the potential to offer a range of benefits, including increased student engagement, collaboration, and accessibility. However, these tools also raise a number of challenges and concerns, particularly in relation to academic honesty and plagiarism," read the abstract of a research paper published earlier this month.
The paper - purportedly authored by three Plymouth Marjon University professors - spoke at length about "potential for these tools to be used for academic dishonesty" and strategies to counter such abuse. It was eventually peer-reviewed by four academics and cleared for publication in ‘Innovations in Education and Teaching International’.
ALSO READ: ChatGPT can lie, but it’s only imitating humans
What nobody (apart from the editors of the journal) knew however was that the entire research paper had been written by ChatGPT.
“We wanted to show that ChatGPT is writing at a very high level. This is an arms race. The technology is improving very fast and it’s going to be difficult for universities to outrun it," the paper's ‘lead author’ Debby Cotton was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
As AI grows smarter, it has become increasingly difficult to detect and counter such plagiarism. But the issue goes beyond academia.
Many commentators now believe that journalism, for example, is on the cusp of a revolution where mastery of algorithms and AI tools that generate content will be a key battleground.
Last year, technology news site CNET had quietly deployed an AI program last year to write some of its listicles. While it was later forced to issue several corrections (some of them serious) many linked job cuts announced by CNET's parent company to the rise of chatbots. The dismissals had included editorial staff - though executives denied AI was behind the layoffs.
"Artificial intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever was -- or simply replace it," said Mathias Doepfner - head of German publishing behemoth Axel Springer - told staff last month.
(With inputs from agencies)
