IBL News | New York
International Baccalaureate (IB), which offers an alternative qualification to A-levels and Highers, said that their students can use ChatGPT in their essays. But they must be clear when they were quoting its responses.
“Content created by this chatbot must be treated like any other source and attributed when used,” said IB.
IB is taken by thousands of children every year in the UK at more than 120 schools and all over Europe.
ChatGPT has become a sensation since its public release in November 2022, due to its ability to produce plausible responses to text prompts, including requests to write essays.
However, ChatGPT-based cheating capabilities have alarmed teachers and the academic profession.
Matt Glanville, the IB’s Head of Assessment Principles and Practice, said the chatbot should be embraced as “an extraordinary opportunity”.
“The clear line between using ChatGPT and providing original work is exactly the same as using ideas taken from other people or the internet. As with any quote or material adapted from another source, it must be credited in the body of the text and appropriately referenced in the bibliography,” he added.
“When AI can essentially write an essay at the touch of a button, we need our pupils to master different skills, such as understanding if the essay is any good or if it has missed context, has used biased data or if it is lacking in creativity. These will be far more important skills than writing an essay, so the assessment tasks we set will need to reflect this.”
