Schoolchildren can cite content created by ChatGPT in their essays, the International Baccalaureate said.
The IB, which offers an alternative qualification to A-levels and Highers, said students can use the chatbot but need to be clear when quoting their answers.
ChatGPT has become a sensation since its public launch in November, with its ability to produce plausible responses to text messages, including requests to write essays.
While the possibility of cheating with ChatGPT has alarmed teachers and the academic profession, Matt Glanville, IB director of assessment principles and practice, said the chatbot should be considered “an extraordinary opportunity.”
However, Glanville told the Times that the responses should be treated like any other source in essays.
“The clear line between using ChatGPT and providing original work is exactly the same as using ideas taken from other people or from the Internet. As with any citation or material adapted from another source, it must be credited in the body of the text and properly referenced in the bibliography,” he said.
Thousands of children take the IB every year in the UK at more than 120 schools.
Glanville said that essay writing would take a less prominent place in the grading process in the future due to the rise of chatbot technology.
“However, essay writing is being profoundly challenged by the emergence of new technologies and there is no doubt that it will be much less important in the future.”
He added: “When AI can essentially write an essay at the touch of a button, we need our learners to master different skills, such as understanding if the essay is good or lacks context, has used biased data, or lacks creativity. These will be much more important skills than writing an essay, so the assessment tasks we set will need to reflect this.”
ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company backed by Microsoft. Microsoft has integrated OpenAI technology into its Bing search engine and Google has announced the creation of its own chatbot, Bard, although it has not made it public yet.
On Monday, Snapchat announced that it would implement a chatbot based on the same technology as ChatGPT. The messaging app said its chatbot, called My AI, would be rolled out to subscribers of its premium service, Snapchat+.
Reflecting on some of the issues encountered by ChatGPT and Bing users, Snapchat said the “experimental” chatbot would produce bugs.
“While My AI is designed to prevent biased, incorrect, harmful or misleading information, errors can happen,” he said.
Snapchat added that the service could be used for a variety of purposes, similar to how ChatGPT and Bing were used, including recommending gift ideas and planning hiking vacations.
