Using, not banning, AI tools like ChatGPT can unlock new horizons for future generations

Banning students from exploring AI-powered chatbots is like barring young people from using smartphones, especially when AI tools are likely to become ubiquitous soon
AI tools are complements to and not substitutes for humans, and schools and universities should incorporate them in their curriculums

Christopher Tang

Published: 3:30am, 12 Apr 2023

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Should schools and universities ban students from using artificial-intelligence-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT? As an educator, I was concerned at first that this tool could kill creativity. However, if I change the way I teach by incorporating these AI tools, I believe I can motivate students to explore creative ideas that were once thought impossible.

Generative AI such as ChatGPT took the world by storm because it can answer questions and quickly and cheaply write short essays, poems that rhyme and computer code like an expert. If I was a student, this AI tool would be a godsend.

Out of concern over cheating or plagiarism, New York City public schools have banned ChatGPT. In Hong Kong, both the University of Hong Kong and Baptist University have banned students from using ChatGPT in their assignments until a long-term policy is established.

Banning ChatGPT for examinations makes sense. It is consistent with the ACT calculator policy for taking the university entrance exam in the United States, which ensures students can illustrate their understanding of certain mathematical concepts and their capability to perform certain analysis. However, banning new AI tools can impede the learning process for students in this new era.

Banning students from exploring AI tools is like banning young people from using smartphones, especially when AI tools are likely to become ubiquitous soon. In March, Baidu showcased its AI-powered chatbot Ernie Bot, and Google released its chatbot Bard to a limited number of people in the US and Britain as an experiment. Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed that its new Bing search engine will incorporate GPT-4, the latest version of ChatGPT.

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If we rely on these AI tools to generate the final output without verifying the work, then it is risky because these tools make mistakes. They are notorious for sometimes going off the rails during conversations, and Bard is no exception.

Therefore, AI tools can assist humans but not necessarily replace them. More importantly, if humans can make use of these tools’ capabilities and stay ahead of them, they can empower humans to advance faster and be better.

Consider the following examples. First, suppose I use AI tools to generate a rough draft based on my original ideas. Then I can refine this document by changing the structure, streamlining my own thoughts and including some artistic phrases with puns. Because these AI tools can provide some basic background information faster, even though I still need to check the facts, I can produce more articles at a faster pace.

Second, consider a case where an artist needs to generate a facial composite of a crime suspect based on one or more witnesses’ memories of a face. The traditional process is time-consuming, especially when multiple witnesses are involved. If the composite artist can use AI tools such as Midjourney to create a rough sketch and get witnesses to provide additional descriptions of the suspect, AI tools can help produce a face that all witnesses can agree on quickly. Doing so can help police identify the suspect quickly by using facial recognition AI tools, and fight crimes more effectively.

Third, Hong Kong prides itself on product and fashion designs. By leveraging a neural network called Dall-E that creates images from text captions for a wide range of concepts, AI tools such as Cala can enable anyone to design fashion based on their ideas using text inputs to generate sketches with 3D renders.

Also, as a digital platform that coordinates different supply chain partners, Cala unifies the entire design process from product ideation all the way through e-commerce enablement and order fulfilment. These AI tools can inspire people to generate innovative design concepts and empower them to convert their creative ideas into businesses quickly.

Fourth, Hong Kong has a ratio of two doctors per 1,000 residents, which lags behind the ratio of 2.5 in Singapore and Japan. More doctors are needed to reduce long waiting times at public hospitals. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development advises an optimal standard of 3.4 doctors per 1,000 citizens, indicating Hong Kong is short of about 11,000 doctors.

Recruiting more doctors is costly and time-consuming. It would be more cost-effective and time-efficient if the Hospital Authority explored AI tools such as ChatGPT to improve the productivity of doctors and nurses.

For example, ChatGPT could be used to provide real-time translation services to facilitate communication between patients and healthcare providers, allowing patients to understand their diagnosis, treatment options and medication instructions. Also, it could help suggest appropriate treatments and flag potential drug interactions. As a virtual medical assistant, ChatGPT could help clinicians save time, reduce errors and improve patient care.

AI can provide powerful tools that help us become more productive and creative, and even perform better. An MIT study in March suggested that ChatGPT could enable professionals such as grant writers and data analysts to produce better news releases and short reports in 37 per cent less time. A separate experiment conducted by Microsoft suggested that AI tools such as ChatGPT could enable programmers to cut the time needed to write a program by half.

Ultimately, AI tools are complements to and not substitutes for humans. Instead of banning the use of AI tools, educational institutions should incorporate them into their curriculums so future generations can leverage these new tools to advance performance.

Christopher Tang is a distinguished professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management