The good and the bad of AI in education

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is one of the most significant developments in the age of digitalization.
Therefore, in a small research project, we conducted a first rapid literature review with the aim of determining the initial scientific findings regarding the use of ChatGPT in educational settings. In what contexts was it used, and why? Where is such usage advisable, and what negative effects are observed? In the first analysis conducted between March and April 2023, a total of 117 literature sources were found, of which 71 were excluded in advance as irrelevant for our purpose. Five additional papers were duplicates. Therefore, we ended up with 41 papers for the first final analysis.

Full text

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The good and the bad of AI in education
Authors: Ebner Martin, Sandra Schön & Irfan Jahic
Artificial!intelligence!is!one!of!the!most!significant!developments!in!the!age!of!digitalization.!Perhaps!it!can!
be!described!as!the!third!major!evolutionary!step!following!the!invention!of!computers!and!their!
interconnection!(the!Internet),!ushering!in!comprehensive!everyday!support!based!on!machine!learning,!
which!we!considered!impossible!just!a!few!years!ago.!
Since!the!end!of!2022,!generative!AIs,!those!capable!of!autonomously!creating!audio,!videos,!images,!and!
even!texts,!have!become!part!of!our!society.!A!great!debate!has!arisen!regarding!the!impact!this!
particularly!has!on!education!and!beyond.!Discussions!revolve!around!whether!educators!will!become!
redundant,!whether!children!will!need!to!acquire!new!skills,!or!even!if!the!current!education!system!as!we!
know!it!will!become!obsolete.!Such!debates!are!not!entirely!new,!as!they!were!held!when!the!internet!took!
over!the!world,!Wikipedia!emerged,!Second!Life!entered!our!lives,!or!when!Apple!and!Google!smartphones!
began!their!triumph.!Although!we!strongly!do!not!believe!that!schools!or!universities!will!become!extinct,!
it!is!still!necessary!to!systematically!address!the!topic.!
Therefore,!in!a!small!research!project,!we!conducted!a!first!rapid!literature!review!with!the!aim!of!
determining!the!initial!scientific!findings!regarding!the!use!of!ChatGPT!in!educational!settings.!In!what!
contexts!was!it!used,!and!why?!Where!is!such!usage!advisable,!and!what!negative!effects!are!observed?!
In!the!first!analysis!conducted!between!March!and!April!2023,!a!total!of!117!literature!sources!were!
found,!of!which!71!were!excluded!in!advance!as!irrelevant!for!our!purpose.!Five!additional!papers!were!
duplicates.!Therefore,!we!ended!up!with!41!papers!for!the!first!final!analysis.!Subsequently,!a!rough!
categorization!was!performed,!revealing!that!most!of!the!works!were!found!in!the!field!of!medicine!and!
related!areas.!
In!summary,!it!can!be!pointed!out!that,!according!to!existing!research,!ChatGPT!can!be!used:!
As a great helper during research!
To produce exams on a specific topic!
To produce curricula and plan courses!
To assist with assessments!
To encourage critical thinking!
To summarize large chunks of text, such as whole chapters.!
Based!on!the!literature!review,!some!advantages!(the!good)!of!using!ChatGPT!in!education!include:!

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Providing a personalized learning experience!
Serving as a great writing assistant!
Assisting in language learning!
Generating and translating code!
We!also!compiled!a!list!of!mentioned!disadvantages!(the!bad)!of!using!ChatGPT!in!education!based!on!our!
first!rapid!literature!review:!
Plagiarism concerns!
Bias due to the restriction to a limited number of sources!
AI hallucinations!
Privacy concerns!
From!our!perspective,!excluding!AI!technologies!from!educational!institutions!makes!little!sense.!On!the!
contrary,!a!meaningful!implementation!appears!highly!recommendable.!It!is!also!foreseeable!that!
examinations!or!the!assessment!of!competencies!will!need!to!be!redesigned.!Moreover,!it!is!essential!to!
train!critical!thinking!by!questioning!AI-generated!texts,!as!AI!hallucinations!seem!to!have!the!most!
significant!impact!on!the!bad!site.!
If!you!are!interested!in!reading!the!entire!study,!please!refer!to!the!following!reference:!
Jahic,!I.,!Ebner,!M.,!&!Schön,!S.!(2023).!Harnessing!the!power!of!artificial!intelligence!and!ChatGPT!in!
education!–!a!first!rapid!literature!review.!In!T.!Bastiaens!(Ed.),!Proceedings!of!EdMedia!+!Innovate!
Learning!(pp.!1462-1470).!Vienna,!Austria:!Association!for!the!Advancement!of!Computing!in!Education!
(AACE).!Retrieved!July!13,!2023,!from!https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/222670/!
Lastly,!I!would!like!to!mention!that!this!text!was!also!translated!and!supported!by!ChatGPT,!providing!you!
with!a!practical!example!of!the!utility!of!generative!AI.!Would!you!have!recognized!it!immediately!at!first!
glance?!
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