Use of ChatGPT and future of academia

By Rushan Ziatdinov

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. Although it is still in its infancy, ChatGPT has already become a sensation and has attracted admiration and criticism. The notable linguist Noam Chomsky recently described the ChatGPT chatbot as, in essence, high-tech plagiarism. On the other hand, there are already many Facebook groups discussing the usefulness of ChatGPT, and some practical examples can be found online at https://platform.openai.com/examples

Plagiarism can also be produced not only by ChatGPT, but by rewriting published texts with the help of Quillbot, DeepL Writer, Paraphrase tools, Wordfixer Bot, AI Article Spinner, SpinBot, and other online tools. Deepl Writer is especially good at paraphrasing sentences and offers the user several choices in the selection of sentences.

I tested ChatGPT by asking it to rewrite a sentence in 10 different ways without changing its meaning and I received 10 sentences in the output. Currently, ZeroGPT is used as a detector for ChatGPT written texts, but I don't know if Turnitin or Ithenticate can detect all texts rewritten by various text spinners.

There are so many ways in which ChatGPT and the tools mentioned above can serve as an assistive technology for human beings, saving their precious time for creative and intelligent things. Why not use Quillbot and DeepL Writer to improve our own writing and ChatGPT to do something smart?

Readers may remember my article about using frequency dictionaries in the classroom. The development of such specialized dictionaries for each lecture is routine work that requires the use of software as well as a lot of manual work. However, such dictionaries undoubtedly contribute to quality education, one of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals, when teaching in a language that is not the students' mother tongue.

It was a surprise to me, but ChatGPT was able to build an English-Korean frequency dictionary from the text provided. Unfortunately, the free version of ChatGPT cannot accept long texts, but it is possible to split a text into several parts. The output can be a table showing the most common words, their frequencies, and explanations.

ChatGPT can also create a vocabulary in multiple languages, which is helpful for inclusive education. Instructors can provide a list of terms and ask learners to create a table with translations in other languages. English transliteration can be added for each language, making learning how words are pronounced in different languages easier.

Probably future versions of ChatGPT would provide high-quality translations of presentations and books, similar to https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com/ that freely translates and preserves the layout of any document format into available languages. Unfortunately, Naver's Document Translator based on Papago needs logging in and can translate only up to 10 documents per month, and translated documents can be downloaded five times in seven days, as mentioned on their website.

I've found it fun to generate poems in ChatGPT. Now, I can teach complex concepts more interestingly. The interested one can provide a list of words separated by commas and ask ChatGPT to write a poem using these words. Let's write a poem using keywords: computing, Excel, data, function, and chart. Here is what I've received.

"In the world of computing,
Where data reigns supreme,
Excel is a tool quite suiting,
A charting masterpiece in the team.

With functions to manipulate,
And data to process and refine,
Excel is a tool that's great,
A champion of spreadsheets in its prime.

The chart is where the story's told,
Where data comes to life,
With insights both new and old,
And visualizations that are rife.

So let computing lead the way,
With Excel at the helm,
Data's tale will never fray,
And charts will overwhelm.

For in this world of data,
Where computing rules the day,
Excel's a champion of its matter,
A tool that will forever stay."

As a lover of literature and poetry, especially the works of Alexander Pushkin, Afanasy Fet, and Alexander Blok, I think that talented instructors might benefit from using well-known quotes and sayings, jokes, and poems (including those generated by ChatGPT), as well as their ChatGPT translations, the quality of which will hopefully improve soon, to motivate and inspire learners.

The ability of ChatGPT to translate references from manuscripts in one style to another is something else I like (I've only tried APA and MLA styles). This task is routine, and academics (especially those who don't know what LaTeX is) are spending considerable time on this. Thus, artificial intelligence-based tools like ChatGPT can save professors a lot of time.

I envisage the occurrence of several new AI-based tools and technologies in future academia:
1. Tools that can quickly redesign PowerPoint presentations based on the vision level of the audience, size of a lecture room, day and time of a lecture, and other psychological characteristics of the audience. This can be especially useful for South Korea, as it has one of the world's highest percentages of myopia patients.
2. Virtual smart research and teaching assistants to professors.
3. Technologies that will allow professors to use their hologram during a lecture.
4. Futuristic lecture halls and supersmart classrooms (highly academic, engaging and inspiring atmosphere; good visibility for learners; absence of unnecessary noises; crystal clear air; availability of a whiteboard that saves what an instructor has written and directly shares to the learning management system; availability of intelligent robot cleaners; and other AI-controlled tools).

Such advanced tools and technologies should be developed by leading companies in collaboration with top research-oriented institutions and supported by the UN and countries' governments as a priority task for developing national education systems.

Technologies are not new in our life, and they have had both positive and negative effects on the life of human beings. However, without new technologies and science behind them, the development and progress of human civilization are impossible. One of the aims of new technologies should be to make humans love their jobs, feel more freedom, and give humans more time to spend with their loved ones to do things and hobbies that they like and enjoy the coastline of the surrounding world.

Rushan Ziatdinov (www.ziatdinov-lab.com) is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Keimyung University, Daegu. He can be reached at ziatdinov.rushan@gmail.com.