Our wonderful deputy head Mr Allen has recently sent an email to parents explaining about the school’s views on AI in education, such as ChatGPT. We have taken this opportunity to simplify the message
and allow you to understand the risks more independently.

As most of you know there has been a lot of talk regarding ChatGPT which you may have tried yourself. If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT, it is an online AI website chatbot which can do anything from write impossible riddles to a Macbeth essay. The idea of a free homework helper may be very enticing, however it can have many negative effects if used in the wrong way – by all means search up a term or two in order to aid your learning, but don’t get too carried away or you will regret it in those dreaded exams!

It has also caught the attention of teachers who are on the lookout for ChatGPT’s masterpieces so think twice before asking for a full essay on the Cold War! Passing off AI generated material as your own, or subtly rephrasing AI content, still counts as plagiarism, which is against school rules. We even asked ChatGPT itself what its opinion was regarding school children using the server for homework. Of course it instantly reeled off a list of pros and cons including that it provides inspiration and ideas, grammar and
language assistance and that it is an overall learning tool.

However it also listed many disadvantages including lack of originality, people becoming dependent on the server and sometimes inaccurate and unreliable information. So everyone, even though you may be
struggling with a piece of PSC, our advice is reach out to your teachers and textbooks rather than ChatGPT and other similar sites!

Flo W and Poppy S, Year 10