Search interest for ChatGPT is up 112,740%. Educators are scrambling to understand the implications of this AI, while NYC Public Schools banned it in January.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, USA, January 16, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Global search interest for ChatGPT is up 112,740% in the past month. Educators are scrambling to understand the implications of this tool, with New York City Public Schools enacting a student and teacher ban on this platform in early January. As the education policy debate heats up, Study.com wanted to explore student and teacher perceptions of this tool, its utility in education, and its implications, to help understand the broader consumer sentiment on this emerging technology. Through surveying over a hundred educators and 1k students age 18+, Study.com discovered:

- 72% of college professors are concerned about ChatGPT’s impact on cheating; yet, only 34% of all educators believe that ChatGPT should be banned in schools and universities
- Over 89% of college students have used ChatGPT to help with a homework assignment.
- 48% of students admitted to using ChatGPT for an at-home test or quiz, 53% of students had it write an essay, and 22% had it write an outline for a paper
- 72% of college students believe that ChatGPT should be banned from their college’s network
- Perhaps we can thank the 15% of educators who have used ChatGPT to discuss the moral implications of technology as a reason why more students think it should be banned.

Teachers' candid thoughts on ChatGPT demonstrate the growing debate for AI's implications on education policy:
- “I love that students would have another resource to help answer questions. Do I worry some kids would abuse it, yes, but they use Google and get answers. It is my understanding that CHATGPT explains answers. That would be more beneficial.”
- “I don't think banning it will stop cheating. I do think that it creates an opportunity to have discussions with students about why we ask them to do assignments at all and how cheating won't benefit them.”
- “In terms of its potential to be used for cheating, it does seem like a real possibility, but students have myriad ways to cheat, so I can't imagine this being a paradigm shift in that sense. It sounds to me like something that could be extremely useful for students who are still intermediate-level language learners, as a way for them to practice their English without feeling to much pressure to "get everything right" on an assignment and to get immediate feedback.”
- “I have several colleagues who have fed take-home exam questions to ChatGPT and it has scored in the B-range, which is scary.”
- “My entire department is nervous about the sudden easy access to AI writing tools and that we are already seeing assignments from our students using it. For now, it is fairly easy to spot but we are afraid that it is only a matter of a year or so before we will b able to suss out the cheating. We don't have a plan and are eager to find one.”

Study.com is a personalized learning platform focused on increasing the accessibility of education. Data from the Study.com report was collected January 2023. Results are from a survey of over 100 educators and 1,000 students. Respondents were based in the United States.

For further information about this study, additional findings, and educator quotes, please contact Kelsey Libert (kelsey@frac.tl).

Kelsey Libert
Fractl
kelsey@frac.tl