ChatGPT will be banned in state schools in Queensland, Australia, joining New South Wales (NSW) in this move, despite concerns from artificial intelligence (AI) researchers about the effectiveness of such measures.
As anxiety rises over the use of bots to cheat in examinations, media reported early Sunday, Jan. 22, that the NSW Department of Education would restrict the technology via a firewall.
AI apps, such as ChatGPT, will be blocked on student devices and school networks in NSW, making their use impossible during school hours.
Latest ChatGPT Ban
As reported by The Guardian on Sunday, the Queensland Department of Education is likewise barring ChatGPT until it can be completely reviewed for appropriateness in a school context.
The ChatGPT technology will be evaluated, the department official stated.
The department has a filtering system that monitors the internet for harmful material and removes it from students' access.
The ban, according to Megan Kelly, acting deputy secretary for learning improvement in the NSW Department of Education, will go into effect later this month when students return to school. This decision will remain in place while the state reviews how to "safely and appropriately" teach with emerging technology.
Kelly said ChatGPT's Terms of Use indicate that users must be 18 years or older. Therefore, the decision was taken to restrict access to anyone under that age. Furthermore, there is a lack of dependable protections preventing these technologies from exposing pupils to potentially explicit and hazardous information.
Meanwhile, the tools would remain available to employees.
On the other hand, Victoria's Department of Education has chosen not to implement a prohibition. The agency has said that it would consider any necessary steps as needed and would rather continue to keep an eye on the progress of AI.
Further Concerns
ChatGPT can create text on any topic in response to a prompt or question. It has sparked excitement for its potential to benefit certain students and concern about its potential for abuse due to its capacity to construct human-like replies that avoid plagiarism detection.
Concerns over its bad influence on student learning led New York schools to impose a similar prohibition. And now, several UK and Australian institutions are seeking to combat the rise of ChatGPT by reverting to pen-and-paper exams with greater in-person supervision.
Willingness to Adapt
In certain institutions, there is a willingness to embrace new technologies.
The Islamic College of Brisbane said on Saturday, Jan. 21, that it will change its curriculum for this year to enable ChatGPT to become a teaching tool. Sydney Catholic Schools revealed they would not impose a ban.
Ali Kadri, the chief executive officer of the Brisbane Islamic College, told the Courier Mail that the technology might unleash student creativity, provide personalized teaching, and better equip pupils to work alongside AI systems as adults.
Dr. Stefan Popenici, a specialist on AI at Charles Darwin University, has argued that a complete ban on this tech would be the worst type of response since it would be a missed opportunity.
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