Oklahoma Schools React To Developments In Artificial Intelligence

Schools across Green Country are working to deal with the latest developments in artificial intelligence.

Across the nation, there are concerns about students using AI technology to do their assignments for them.

Just days before the spring semester started, professors at Oklahoma State University may have made changes to their syllabus, in reaction to artificial intelligence.

"We may have to rethink some of our assignments,” OSU Vice Provost Dr. Christine Ormsbee said.

She said in an interview that about a week ago, the university sent recommendations to faculty on how to deal with what's called "ChatGPT,” a website that generates text in response to a prompt typed in by a user.

News On 6 tried the technology by asking it to write a news story about Godzilla attacking the city of Tulsa. It made up a fake story and even a fake quote from Mayor GT Bynum.

Ormsbee said there are questions and concerns about how the technology could be used in the academic world.

She said some of the faculty recommendations include having shorter writing assignments in class and requiring certain resources to be used in papers.

"The other thing we've suggested is, having students when they write, turn on their track changes at the beginning. And then they turn their paper in with their track changes as one of their examples. So that we can see that there’s a writing process,” Ormsbee said.

At the grade school level, Union Public Schools said it has blocked ChatGPT on student devices and given teachers help on how to detect material written by ChatGPT.

"I think our big message for students, that we want faculty to share with them, is that this may help you in the short run, but it will not help you in the long run. It will not help you develop writing skills if you're here to do that,” Ormsbee said.

A TU professor who is currently writing a book about artificial intelligence says, "….There's a lot of moral panic about AI right now, most of it undeserved, but there will be things that catch us unprepared…"

TU said its professors are “exploring what this latest technological advancement means for students and faculty and how best to encourage proper use.”