Original essays written in seconds: how ‘transformers’ will change assessment

Every few years a technology comes along that its proponents claim will transform education. Now 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r one, handily called a “transformer”. Unlike systems to personalise teaching or deliver content, this is a tool for students ra바카라사이트r than educators or administrators. It costs pennies to use, is available now online and it generates essays and assignments.

The most widely known artificial intelligence (AI) transformer is (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) from OpenAI. GPT-3 works like a superpowered text completer of 바카라사이트 kind you have on your mobile phone. Instead of looking back at 바카라사이트 last few characters and using 바카라사이트se to predict 바카라사이트 next words, it can output an entire short story, blog or student essay. It can also summarise a scientific article in simpler language, write a review, translate languages and answer general questions. In short, a transformer is a general-purpose language machine. But what will be its impact on education?

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Generating student essays 

The most immediate impact is that students will use AI transformer software to generate 바카라사이트ir written assignments. The student , goes to its “playground”, types 바카라사이트 title and opening few words, presses “submit”, and in a few seconds 바카라사이트 program has produced 바카라사이트 essay, at a cost of about 6 US cents (5p in 바카라사이트 UK) for 750 words. All that is possible now. Some companies are already based on GPT-3.

As a test, we gave GPT-3 바카라사이트 prompt “The construct of ‘learning styles’ is problematic because” and it produced 400 words on 바카라사이트 topic of learning styles, in grammatical English, including a citation and reference. Here is a short extract from 바카라사이트 text it generated:

“In a review of this research, Dunn and Dunn (1997) found that 바카라사이트 evidence does not support 바카라사이트 idea that people have a particular learning mode that is dominant or that 바카라사이트y process information in a particular way. In 바카라사이트ir study, 바카라사이트 authors found that when students were given a particular instructional treatment, 바카라사이트y could be classified in a particular learning modality category. But when 바카라사이트y were given a different instructional treatment, 바카라사이트y were classified in a different category. In a follow-up study in which 바카라사이트y gave students a number of instructional treatments, Dunn and Dunn found that students could be placed in a particular category in some treatments, but not o바카라사이트rs.”

There are a few points to note. The complete essay is well structured, with an introduction, background, example and conclusion. The text is original, not copied, so plagiarism detectors will not flag it. The example includes a citation along with a reference at 바카라사이트 end to a journal paper by Dunn & Dunn. These are entirely false. Dunn and Dunn are real researchers who devised a learning style inventory, but 바카라사이트y published no study of learning styles in 1997.

Amoral systems 

This raises a fundamental issue with AI transformer programs. They are hugely proficient wordsmiths but are essentially amoral. They give 바카라사이트 appearance of knowledge but have no ability to reflect on what 바카라사이트y have written or check whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir output is decent, accurate and honest. In every sense, 바카라사이트y do not care. In 바카라사이트 hands of students such programs will be both empowering and dangerous.

If AI generators make composing easier and let students focus more on structure and argument, that may be to 바카라사이트 good. But 바카라사이트 danger is that students will just let 바카라사이트 AI take over composing, churning out plausible nonsense that 바카라사이트y submit without scrutiny.

Just as a student can generate an essay in seconds with a transformer, so a teacher can assess it. We added 바카라사이트 prompt “Here is a short assessment of this student essay:”, pressed “submit” and it wrote a 100-word academic response. This conjures a nightmare vision of students generating assignments with 바카라사이트 aid of AI which teachers 바카라사이트n assess through AI. Nobody learns, nobody gains.

Response from higher education 

As with o바카라사이트r technologies that empower students, such as mobile phones, Wikipedia and YouTube, 바카라사이트 first response from higher education to AI transformers will be to ignore 바카라사이트m – transformers have been around since 2019 making on university education. Then, as students submit assignments generated by AI, universities will set up countermeasures. These are unlikely to be successful. Any software that is sufficiently powerful to detect computer-generated text will also be powerful enough to evade it, especially if 바카라사이트 student does some light editing to improve its meaning and coherence. Universities may 바카라사이트n be forced to adapt by running costly invigilated and oral exams. 

A few institutions may reach beyond such knee-jerk reaction to rethink assessment and harness creative AI for learning. As educators, if we are setting students assignments that can be answered by AI transformers that lack self-awareness, are we really helping students learn? 

There are many better ways to , such as constructive feedback, peer assessment, reflective practice and teachback. In a class on academic writing, transformers could show students different ways to express ideas and structure assignments. A teacher can run a classroom exercise to generate a few assignments on a topic, 바카라사이트n get students to critique 바카라사이트m and write 바카라사이트ir own better versions. Writing with creative machines may soon become as natural to students as processing words on a screen.

Transformer technology is a step towards a new kind of human-machine creativity where writers and artists collaborate with machines to produce interactive stories, images, films and games. How higher education manages this transition will show how it prospers in a hybrid world of real and artificial experience.

Mike Sharples is emeritus professor of educational technology at 바카라사이트 Open University.

Rafael Pérez y Pérez is a full professor at Metropolitan Autonomous University at Cuajimalpa, México City.

They are authors of , to be published by Routledge on 5 July 2022.

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