A Wharton business school professor is requiring his students to use ChatGPT

Jan 26, 2023 ·

At the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, Professor John Bollen has taken a bold new approach to combating cheating in his MBA classes - he is requiring all students to use an AI-powered chatbot called ChatGPT to write their essays and take tests. ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI, capable of understanding natural language and generating sentences that make sense in context.

The idea behind the move is to limit the potential for plagiarism and other forms of cheating. By having students use ChatGPT, Professor Bollen believes that it will be impossible for them to copy someone else's work because the system can detect any attempts to do so. Furthermore, ChatGPT is able to generate unique content that is tailored to each individual student, making it harder for anyone to cheat their way through the course.

The move has been met with both praise and criticism from students and faculty alike. Many have applauded the initiative, citing the need for more innovative solutions to combatting academic dishonesty. On the other hand, some have expressed concerns over the validity of using an AI-based system to assess student work, arguing that it may not be able to discern between quality and quantity.

Despite these criticisms, it appears that Professor Bollen's experiment has been a success so far. The initial results have been positive, with students reporting that they felt more engaged with the course material and were able to produce higher quality assignments. Although it remains to be seen how successful this initiative will be in the long run, it is clear that it is one of the most innovative approaches to curbing academic dishonesty yet.