Due to concerns about cheating, the New York City Department of Education has banned the wildly popular chatbot ChatGPT from its schools’ devices and networks. It is also restricted due to concerns about negative effects on student learning accuracy.
“Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools’ networks and devices,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle told Motherboard in a statement. “While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.”
ChatGPT, a chatbot created by OpenAI, went viral on social media in late 2022 after some claimed it was a better search engine than Google due to its interactional delivery style and comprehensible, topical reaction style. It can generate conversational responses to user questions and even write essays using an enormous amount of online information.
When asked what it thought of the ban, ChatGPT stated: “It is important to consider the potential risks and benefits of using ChatGPT in education, and to carefully weigh the evidence before making a decision. It is also essential to listen to the perspectives and concerns of all stakeholders, including educators, students, and parents, in order to make informed and fair decisions.”
The sources for this piece include an article in Vice.