There has been quite a bit in the news recently about “chatbots,” AI programs that can engage in conversations and write essays, stories, or even poems on any topic, imitating any style. Some of this discussion has been alarmist – a reaction I can understand, given the importance in my own teaching of student writing, including essay and short answer questions. Before the holiday season I checked this out, giving the chatbot a typical midterm / final exam question on a couple of different topics. As other commentators have noted, the results are pretty mediocre – correct grammar and spelling (in contrast to typical undergraduate writing) but unimaginative and dispirited (in contrast to the best student writing). In a 200- or 300-level class, these essays would receive at least a C, maybe a B in lower-division classes. So – take-home or do-at-home essay and short-answer questions have just become obsolete. Hand-written in-class writing is still usable – but it can be painful to grade.
On the other hand, a couple of commentators have pointed out that the chatbot responses do provide a nice overview-level summary of current thinking and ideas about a topic, as well as an example of how a generalized discussion might be organized. So – if these are accepted as a tool, students might be encouraged to begin with a prompt and chatbot response, then build an essay on that base. Either way, I think it will require some fresh thinking about the purpose of student essay assignments, and perhaps about the learning objectives of humanities and social science classes.
In a future entry I will talk about another brief test in which I asked the chatbot to analyze metaphors in a passage or set of passages.
