From the Principal

Some thoughts about ChatGPT

The recent rise of ChatGPT has been a topic of much discussion in society. As a member of the Blue Mountains Grammar School community and someone who has engaged in discussions on this topic with peers at the school and across Australia, I'd like to offer my thoughts.

Australian commentator Tim Dodd recently summarised the significance of ChatGPT in an article. ChatGPT is an AI-powered bot that can imitate human-like communication and perform tasks such as essay writing, coding, and exam taking with near human-like proficiency. Furthermore, it has access to a vast amount of human knowledge.

ChatGPT and similar products present both challenges and opportunities for the education sector. On the one hand, ChatGPT can quickly complete most student assignments and can also serve as an excellent source of knowledge for students who want to use it for learning instead of cheating. On the other hand, this raises questions about what types of learning are relevant and how to evaluate students learning in this new world, as some subjects taught today may become obsolete while new fields emerge, such as the ethics of using AI. I have used ChatGPT to write this article. While it did the bulk of the work, I still took the time to edit, refine, and ensure that it was suitable for us as a community. It is powerful. 

The reaction to the launch of ChatGPT has been varied, with some embracing the change and others outright banning its use in the classroom. At Blue Mountains Grammar School, we take a bold approach and are actively determining the best way to embrace this change.

Good teachers can spot plagiarised work, and in subjects that involve face-to-face learning, the drafting process often begins in the classroom. If a final submission differs significantly from the draft, it will raise suspicions. 

Although ChatGPT has limitations regarding higher-level critical analysis and evaluation, it has already proven to reduce teacher workloads as it can produce draft worksheets, quizzes, and more straightforward tasks. This frees teachers to focus on providing a more deliberate and tailored learning model and offers greater scope for one-on-one attention to your children.

At BMGS, we strongly emphasise fostering critical and creative thinking skills in our students. Our multi-modal approach to teaching reflects this, and we recognise that relying solely on ChatGPT is not in the best interest of our students in the long term.

At the heart of every good teacher is a new awareness of the need to teach our students how to use ChatGPT responsibly, as they will encounter AI beyond school. Just as with the introduction of calculators in the 1970s, we can harness the power of AI for learning and make it a valuable tool.

Our Academic Integrity Policy remains consistent and stresses the importance of academic integrity and personal accountability. In the short term, we may need to update our policies and assessments to reflect the use of AI and ensure that they are valid and reliable indicators of student learning.

While ChatGPT presents challenges and opportunities, our educators must make the most of this technology to benefit our students. We are ready to take a courageous step forward and embrace this new technology.

Mr Steven Coote 

Principal