While some see ChatGPT as the potential end of creativity and original work, its capabilities make it a beneficial tool that tech-savvy students, and teachers, can leverage in a number of academic areas. The artificial intelligence system, with its ability to summarise information, construct questions, and refine written work, among many other things, makes it a tool that can enhance a student’s original thinking, and keep them up to date in the advancing world of technology. “Learning in any realm – whether it’s in school, university, or professionally – is a way to train your brain. When used effectively, ChatGPT can become an additional, practical tool to help students unlock creativity, generate content, and increase their potential for improved performance and future learning,” says Rebecca Pretorius, Country Manager at Crimson Education, a global EdTech company that helps students with the complex application process to top universities abroad.
While ChatGPT can be leveraged effectively in a number of ways, there are currently limitations. Despite having 570 GB of data sources, such as books and websites, it cannot recognise misinformation in its own writing, or in the sources at its disposal. It also has no knowledge of events, or information after the end of 2021, due to the amount of data it has the capacity to be trained on. The combination of these two factors means the programme is a relatively unreliable source of specific facts, and data.
Outside of these limitations, the AI programme’s capabilities are a valuable academic tool; “Students can think of ChatGPT as an interactive past paper or a study guide that adapts to their specific academic needs. Whether students need study tips or help with generating coherent and grammatically correct sentences, ChatGPT can be used to assist students in writing college application, and other, essays.,” says Pretorius.
Crimson Education’s team of educational experts have identified the following ways to use ChatGPT as a tool for your learning:
1. Content generator: With its ability to generate coherent and grammatically correct sentences, ChatGPT can be beneficial if you struggle with grammar and sentence structure, or if you are looking for new ideas. It can provide a starting point, which you can edit and revise to suit your own writing style and voice. This is a particularly useful tool for students whose first language is not English.
2. Simplify complex topics: If you are struggling to understand a topic, ChatGPT can assist in breaking it down. For example, you can ask the programme to give you a 100-word explanation of a topic, that only includes the most important facts. This can assist you when studying, as you now know the main points to be looking out for.
3. Question generator: Not only can you ask ChatGPT questions; you can also prompt it to create questions for you, based on the subject information you provide it with. This can be a valuable preparation technique when getting ready for tests or exams.
4. Finding useful resources: ChatGPT’s extensive dataset means it can be leveraged as an additional source of information, both for writing, and learning. If you are writing an application essay, or completing an assignment; you can prompt the programme to give you a set number of references and resources that will be beneficial to your given topic.
With a primary focus on helping students gain admission into top overseas universities, such as the Ivy League and Oxbridge, Crimson Education provides students with individualised support, guided by data-driven modelling and proprietary technology, to unlock access to the best-fit university for them. As EdTech continues to advance, the mentorship company helps students prepare, and adapt to, the shifting technological landscape they are exposed to, at school and beyond. For more information, visit www.crimsoneducation.org/za
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