ChatGPT is raising concerns on college campuses across the country. The free-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) writing software, backed by Microsoft, can produce written content in a matter of seconds with little human interaction.
Several local news stations have been following the rise of the AI software, and have discussed its capabilities with Kent State University faculty, staff and students.
Gretchen Hoak, Ph.D., associate professor of journalism, along with senior journalism major Chris Abreu and junior public relations major Katie Masko, spoke with News 5 Cleveland about the introduction of ChatGPT into the world of journalism.
Hoak studies the importance of news literacy, the ability to determine the credibility of a news source. She shared that even journalism students can struggle with this concept, and with the introduction of ChatGPT written articles into our news, the ability to distinguish good sources of information will become more difficult.
Hoak told News5, “I think gone are the days when you could look at a piece of fake news and know it was fake because it was poorly written.”
Kent State’s Jennifer Marcinkiewicz, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Sarah Beal, Ph.D., professional development specialist in the Center for Teaching and Learning, spoke with Spectrum News 1. Marcinkiewicz was also featured on WAKR’s This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro.
Beal, who taught an AI writing workshop for more than 100 Kent State faculty last month, shared her advice for faculty who are concerned about ChatGPT integrating into the classroom.
“Maybe give your students things that were generated by ChatGPT and ask them to critique it,” Beal told Spectrum News 1. “Ask them, ‘how would you make this a better response?’ This is currently, maybe a C level paper, let’s make it an A level paper’ and talk about what goes into that process.”
The articles further discuss the implications that can come with the use of AI writing software and how it can be useful to integrate the programs into the classroom and our daily lives.
For more information about the Center for Teaching and Learning, visit https://www.kent.edu/ctl.
Learn more about the School of Media and Journalism at https://www.kent.edu/mdj.