In my conversation with ChatGPT, we talked about a subject I know well- the series
Hunger Games. This series was my absolute favorite in middle school. I read the books and watched the movies at least a dozen times. I started off by asking, “Do you know the book Hunger Games?” The A.I responded that they are familiar with it, gave a little description of the book, listed all 3 books in the series, their publication dates and then added how the series are also popular movies. Trying to get a human reaction out of it, I asked it what its favorite character was. The bot replied that it had no “personal feelings or preferences’’, therefore does not have a favorite character. I then asked the bot, “Wasn’t it so sad when Rue died?” The AI replied with, “Yes, Rue’s death in “The Hunger Games” was a particularly poignant and emotional moment in the series.” Then it began to list some basic facts about her character. The AI finished off its response saying, “Many readers found Rue’s death to be a heartbreaking moment in the series, and it contributed to the emotional depth of the narrative.” Once again, it did not imply that they themselves felt sad about the death but rather that it was an objectively sad event. I tried to push a little further asking if it cried when Rue died, and it replied, “I don’t have the ability to cry or experience emotions, as I am just a computer program.” In my conversation with ChatGPT I was unable to get any human-like response from it, its style was very much like I was talking to a robot or reading a list of facts.
Forgoing trying to get an emotional response out of the bot, I began to ask the bot to analyze the book. My junior year of High School we had to pick a book and analyze it through a feminist theorist lens, so I asked this bot to do the same thing. 2 years ago, I did my paper on this same book so I had an idea of what this AI was supposed to be telling me or what the “correct” answer was. The bot gave me an accurate and very in depth analysis. It touched on all of the main points speaking about Gender Roles and Stereotypes, Patriarchy and Oppression, Female Solidarity, Reproductive Rights, and more. Not only did the bot list all of the key points that I just listed, but it also gave in depth information as to how the Hunger Games touched on these points and why they were important. All of the AI’s information was correct, and detailed. Honestly, if I had copy and pasted this response and submitted it to my teacher two years ago, I probably would have gotten the same grade, if not a better one than I did.
This raises the question, why wouldn’t people use AI to cheat? Using AI is significantly less work for virtually the same result. Susan D’Agostino brings up some opposing arguments to using AI in her article and one states, “’Even when the outputs are decent, they’re shortcutting the students’ process of thinking through the issue,’ said Anna Mills, English instructor at the College of Marin. ‘They might be taking the student in a different direction than they would have gone if they were following the germ of their own thought.’” I agree with this argument because if I had this tool my junior year I wouldn’t have actually taken the time to analyze the book and how this feminist lens applied to it, but instead just looked it up. The use of AI would have almost completely cut off my thinking process and instead I would have just copied whatever they said. Granted, before AI people could still cheat but it is much easier now since all the information is in the same place and it gives a very direct answer.
D’Agostino, Susan. “ChatGPT Sparks Debate on How to Design Student Assignments Now.” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs, www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/31/chatgpt-sparks-debate-how-design-student-assignments-now. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.