How does Chat GPT fit in with education and careers?

Whether you’re in the classroom or the lecture hall or standing at the front teaching the class, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and specifically Chat GPT is a growing part of education that can’t be ignored. Is it a revolutionary technology that will change the way we learn and prepare for the careers ahead or is it a tool that simply allows students to cut corners when it comes to assignments?

We are only in the first revolution of Chat GPT and currently the education profession is racing to catch up. The ways in which students and teachers can use the technology are still being explored. Already new softwares which can track assignments that have been written using Chat GPT are being developed and used at universities and colleges. 

Some basics

So what exactly is Chat GPT and how do you use it? It’s a type of Artificial Intelligence known as natural language processing and its official name is Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. When you first explore Chat GPT many people try to use it like they would Google, asking it a research question such as ‘What size is the Great Barrier Reef?’ or ‘Who wrote Game of Thrones?’. That’s not where Chat GPT’s strength lies. Asking it to create something or how to do something is the best way to use the software. For example,  ‘How do you write a novel?’ and then refining your questions to get a more specific answer ‘How do I create a character in a novel?, or ‘How do I create a story arc?’ are where the technology excels.

Educational possibilities

But what does that mean for students and teachers.alike? And if students are using Chat GPT to do their research are they then no longer learning the research skills they would be using otherwise? Are there further implications for that? Are there particular courses where using the tool would be beneficial and others where it’s a barrier to learning? 

Using Chat GPT to create a one side of a debate for students to argue against or to create TV scripts or poems for students to critique, edit or improve upon are just a couple of the endless possibilities which the technology can offer.

However, there’s probably not currently a place for it in classes where students are obtaining base levels of knowledge and understanding on a topic, for example writing an essay on how soil erosion happens.

How does Chat GPT affect future career paths?

With every new technology there are nearly always new career opportunities that are created but also others that are threatened.

Clearly Chat GPT is a coding revolution and at the forefront of this type of Artificial Intelligence (AI).It’s a growing field with expanding capabilities and therefore there’ll be lots of jobs created in and around the coding aspect. There’s also roles being created within companies that are incorporating Chat GPT into their own websites and using it for project management and business planning.

Customer service roles are amongst those that will change dramatically with Chat GPT and AI technologies. Companies that use online chat functions will be able to offer a better, more tailored service to customers using the technologies, but this will mean less actual customer service operators are required. Screen and script writing are also engaging with Chat GPT. Obviously the technology can’t fully replace a human writer, but it can change the size of team required and the length of time needed to create scripts, or indeed even novels.

What’s next?

The next release of Chat GPT is already scheduled for later this year and is expected to include elements such as automatic online content creation, further personalised customer service options and personalised virtual assistants, and an opportunity for individualised educational tutorials to be created.

There’s a large number of potential career opportunities being created around Chat GPT and other expanding AI technologies. While there will be some employment losses in areas, in its current form Chat GPT seems to offer more job opportunity creation than job reductions in the near to medium future.