More Than Half Of College Students Believe Using ChatGPT To Complete Assignments Is Cheating
Over half of college students (51%) believe that using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to complete assignments and exams is cheating. Two in ten (20%) disagreed, and the remainder were neutral. Those are among the key findings from a just-released BestColleges survey of 1,000 current undergraduate and graduate students, conducted in the first two weeks of March.
The survey found that 43% of college students overall say they’ve had experience using AI tools like ChatGPT, and half of those acknowledge turning to those tools to work on assignments or exams. This figure translates into 1 in 5 college students admitting they employ AI to complete their schoolwork. Most of the students who’ve used AI apps said they did so for personal projects, out of curiosity, or for fun.
Student Views About The Ethics Of AI Tools
Students’ opinions about the ethics of using ChatGPT for their academic assignments depended on the way the survey questions were posed. For example,
When asked if “using AI tools to help complete assignments and exams is morally wrong,” 41% agreed, while 27% disagreed. But when asked if “AI tools should be prohibited in educational settings,” 38% of respondents disagreed, and only 27% agreed. The survey found that 48% of students agreed that “it is possible to use AI in an ethical way to help complete my assignments and exams,” more than twice the percentage (21% ) who disagreed.
Among those students who used AI tools to complete assignments or exams, 50% said they used them for only some portion of the work but completed the majority themselves. 30% used AI for the majority of their assignment, and 17% used AI to complete an assignment and turn it in with no edits.
Most college students (57%) said they didn’t intend to use or continue using AI to complete assignments or exams. However, 32% said they used it or would continue to use it in the future, while 11% preferred not to answer.
Most Students Said Their Instructors Are Not Discussing The Use of ChatGPT.
Colleges and universities are debating what policies they should put in place regarding students using ChatGPT to complete academic work. Should it be banned outright for coursework? When does its use constitute plagiarism? Can and should students be taught to use it responsibly? The BestColleges survey indicated that a lack of clear and consistent policies is leaving many students uncertain about how AI tools are viewed at their institutions.
While 31% of students knew about rules prohibiting AI tools at their schools, over half (54%) reported that their instructors had not openly discussed the use of AI tools like ChatGPT and only 25% said their schools or instructors had specified how to use AI ethically or responsibly.
Other Opinions About Chat GPT
Among the respondents, 40% of students believed the use of AI by students defeated the purpose of education. Twenty-seven percent of them worried about the impact of AI on their education, and 31% were worried about its impact on their career or potential career. Almost half of students (48%) were worried about the impact of AI on society in general.
While the majority of students (63%) thought that AI couldn’t replace human intelligence or creativity, a majority (51%) still thought the results can at least pass as “human.”
Regardless of whether it’s used for academic purposes or regarded as being ethical when it is used, Chat GPT is here to stay in the minds of most students. Six in ten (61%) reported that they believed AI tools like ChatGPT will become the new normal in the long run. That anticipation reflects a reality for which most colleges appear to be still unprepared, despite its obvious implications for student learning, academic integrity and the very nature of scholarly work.
