By now most of us have read an article with portions written by ChatGPT, one of the newest and currently free “Generative Pre-trained Transformers,” aka AI-based writing tools. Editorialists include these excerpts as examples to demonstrate both ChatGPT’s abilities and weaknesses. Spoiler alert: I am not going to use AI to write any of this, but I admit it might do a better job. Although grammatically perfect, algorithmic language falls short in other areas due to a lack of true understanding and a tendency to stick to generalizations without citing examples. Professors agree that ChatGPT papers would mostly get D’s and F’s, but many feel that there are productive ways of using it in the classroom. It might not actually be the death knell of human-generated expository writing as feared, but how will college admissions folks deal with the possibility that some admissions essays will not be the applicant’s work?
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