Think piece: The benefit of ChatGPT beats the risk

The start of the 2024 academic year is not without trepidation.

The education sector only recently, in 2022, stepped out of the onslaught of Covid restrictions and, in 2023, had to deal with ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer).

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ChatGPT has left many wondering whether this artificial intelligence (AI)-based generative language tool would pose a threat to knowledge and skills transfers in traditional educational structures.

Much of the discourse in 2023 was dedicated to the risks of ChatGPT, some of which were not completely unfounded.

However, in the education sector it is not all doom and gloom. ChatGPT can be of great benefit in the South African context.

Not only does it have the ability to provide easy access to information to students, but it can also explain such information.

Greater access to educational resources can be a game changer for uplifting the socioeconomic conditions of an individual, especially in SA.

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For many students, English is not their home language, but now ChatGPT may be used to assist students to write in an academic, scholarly manner.

Unlike other tools like MS Word and Grammarly, what makes ChatGPT unique is it provides the opportunity to not only revise content, but also create content.

It is this ability to create content where the perceived threat of ChatGPT’s capabilities lies, which stems from a misconception that automated created content will replace traditionally learnt soft skills like writing, critical thinking and research skills.

The real challenge is, however, accepting a different approach to teaching such skills, knowledge and competencies.

Change is not necessarily negative. Historically, innovation has challenged the status quo of educational structures, assessments and the curriculum.

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During the 20th century, the development of the pocket calculator threatened the continued use of the slide rule (which was the gold standard for calculations).

This caused a maelstrom of controversy. Today, the calculator is widely used and the slide rule is history.

Arguably, the use of the calculator has had little negative impact on the skill set of students.

Similarly, advances in technologies such as ChatGPT do not necessarily signal a threat to student skill sets, competencies and abilities.

Rather, ChatGPT should be viewed as another educative tool that provides opportunities to work towards initiatives to improve and innovate teaching, learning and research.

ChatGPT can be used to develop the same critical thinking and problem-solving skills, but in different ways.

ChatGPT creates the opportunity for students to have interactive assignments where they could develop an argument and then use ChatGPT to refute that argument.

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Such interactions transform the assessment from reactive to proactive (and even interactive) engagement with students.

This develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a different way. In the higher education sector, a significant risk exists in abusing ChatGPT to produce academic articles, master’s and doctoral research projects and assignments.

There is an urgent need for educational institutions to develop policies, guidelines and regulations in the use of AI-related technologies.

• Prof Domingo is the executive dean of the faculty of law at the University of Johannesburg.
• Prof Van Eck is head of the department of private law at the University of Johannesburg.
• They write in their personal capacities.