As we all know, ChatGPT is the hype of the moment; an AI based tool which you can ask any question and it will answer. Not only informative questions, but action-related questions as well, like ‘write a poem’ or ‘translate this text’. For instance, this can come in handy in these situations:
- Asking for new inspirations of recipes when you don’t know what to cook.
- Asking for codes for your new econometric business model.
- Asking for professionally written e-mail to your boss.
The tasks that require the AI to generate creative responses are especially significant. They take away work from us, such as: As an adult, having an office-job, you can ask ChatGPT to write your e-mails, or to improve them. As a student, you can ask Chat GPT to write your assignment. As a primary- or secondary school student, you can ask ChatGPT to summarize all your mandatory reading materials, which are often provided in the online version, instead of the old-fashioned books. How convenient. In each part of your life, Chat GPT can make the usually hard time-consuming tasks a lot easier! Having used ChatGPT myself, I am very aware of these convenient advantages. Initially, I used the AI tool for the generation of some sentences in an email. A few months later, I now use it for most of my emails and work-related content. However, I recently came to the conclusion that a lot of my ‘personal work’ was not in fact produced by me, but by the AI. One can wonder, is this the right way forward?
Here are some intriguing facts: Did you know that the attention span of the average human has decreased by over 25% (Mark, 2023)? Did you know that dependency on AI tools, like ChatGPT or Grammarly, can seriously harm critical thinking and problem solving skills (Riaz, 2023)?
Nowadays, we live in a fast-paced world, where everything needs to be done quicker and easier. We forget how to challenge ourselves and cannot even find the time nor the effort to focus on writing that e-mail, that assignment or summary. Scientists believe that ChatGPT plays a significant role in explaining the beforementioned facts (Riaz, 2023).
Long story short, I believe Chat GPT can be viewed as a blessing and a curse. It is only how you use and act upon it: we shouldn’t underestimate our own abilities.
References
Riaz, S. (2023). Should students be using online tools and AI to study? eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/should-students-be-using-online-tools-and-ai-to-study
Mark, G. (2023). Why our attention spans are shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD. https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans
