At the recent forum on Feb 24, 2023, experts across the education sector and students gathered to discuss the potential impact of ChatGPT on higher education. At the beginning Dr. Ting Sun, Director of JI CLT, briefly introduced the purpose of this CLT and CTLD joint forum. The lecture, titled "ChatGPT in Higher Education" was delivered by Dr. Manuel Charlemagne and Dr. Peter Weise at JI.
Dr. Manuel Charlemagne first provided an overview of the new AI language model developed by OpenAI, ranging from its basic features to learning strategy. As a trained mathematician, whose fields of interest expand beyond Mathematics and encompass Computer Science, Urbanism, and Ethics, he further focused on the effects of ChatGPT on maths and computer science courses.
Dr. Peter Weise, on the other hand, highlighted the ways in which ChatGPT could revolutionize teaching and learning in courses that highly depend on writing and qualitative analysis. Also, he mentioned the attitudes and responses towards ChatGPT and similar AI technologies of some top higher education institutions, research communities, researchers and instructors.
Later on, attendees engaged in a lively discussion mainly about the ethical, theoretical and practical implications of ChatGPT in higher education. Some expressed concerns about the potential for ChatGPT to encourage and facilitate academic misconduct, dull the human minds and upheave the role of higher education, while others pointed out that it is actually a powerful and beneficial tool to promote personalized learning, enhance publication efficiency and even provide more data-driven insights.
With all vehement discussions and answers or comments from the two speakers and participants, the forum indeed provided a thought-provoking look at the potential impact of ChatGPT in higher education. As the technology continues to evolve and become more widely adopted, it will be interesting to witness how it transforms the teaching and learning landscape in the years to come.
Reported by Suyun Xu
Proofread by Wenting Xing
Reviewed by Yihong Qiu
Photo by Xu Qianyun