Faculty of Laws Newsletter : March 2023 : issue 6

Abstract

ChatGPT: Challenge or Opportunity? Recently the UM Deans had one of their periodical meetings with the Rector. On the agenda of said meeting was ChatGPT, that application which can answer essay questions and perhaps even do assignments. It seems that Turnitin will not detect its use and the replies given are well structured, if on the superficial side, hence the concern expressed by the Deans at said meeting with UM Rector, which concerns reflect those reported in the international media. Nor are academics alone in expressing concern over ChatGPT: from what I read in the media, it is not a tool specifically created to write students’ essays, but it is a web search tool now backed by Microsoft and set to rival Google. It seems that students worldwide have realised that this tool can help them answer essay questions and write assignments, hence the concern in academic circles.