Abstract
As chatbot technology has advanced significantly over the past few years, it has become more and more prevalent in higher education. Chatbots can simulate human communication and engage in natural conversations. Universities and colleges use chatbots to streamline enrollment and create a virtual “one-stop-shop” for queries. In the meantime, students discovered with excitement that chatbots can help them complete homework assignments. Academic integrity has become a growing concern with students' increasing reliance on chatbots. This chapter summarizes the history of chatbots, discusses the current state of the technology, examines their limitations, and investigates how chatbots can be applied as useful administrative, academic, and pedagogical tools in higher education.
Top1. Introduction
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science concerned with building programs capable of performing problem-solving tasks. The language recognition capabilities of AI systems have developed rapidly. Powered by AI programs, chatbots can simulate human behavior by conversing and interacting with users using natural language. Chatbots have been gaining popularity in various industries, given their ability to mimic human conversations. To save costs and reduce labor, industries with consumers demanding around-the-clock services deploy chatbots to provide customer service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, communication and chatbot technologies accelerated to address public needs. Government organizations employed chatbots to answer high volumes of citizen questions related to the coronavirus and disseminate pandemic-related updates. The battle against the pandemic is over, but the technology and the prevalent use of chatbots remain.
In recent years chatbots have been widely used in higher education. Universities and colleges employ chatbots to interact with current and incoming students, creating a virtual “one-stop-shop” for student queries. A university chatbot can provide students with information ranging from campus and facilities to academic advising and financial aid. Some universities have developed emotional support chatbots to help freshmen transition to college life. To some students, their university chatbot is like an all-knowing expert and caring friend. Some large universities even use chatbots to provide parking navigation on campus to staff and faculty.
Not only can chatbots be used as administrative tools, but they have academic values as well. Newer chatbots can write emails, generate texts, write computer code, solve math problems, interpret questions, and provide accurate and thorough answers. In November 2022, OpenAI, an American AI research laboratory, launched ChatGPT, a chatbot known for producing natural and fluent essays. College students discovered with excitement that ChatGPT can help them complete assignments. Before the arrival of chatbots, a complicated assignment may require careful data gathering, diligent research, and hours of hard work. With the advent of ChatGPT, students can watch their papers being written in just a few moments. A recent survey reveals that many college students rely heavily on ChatGPT to complete their homework assignments. Since ChatGPT creates an original work each time, its responses are not in the databases of plagiarism detectors. Although some educators use AI detectors to spot plagiarism, these tools can be unreliable and falsely flag original human-written content. Higher education is confronted with unprecedented academic and ethical challenges.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Literacy: The ability to find, evaluate, and use information from a variety of digital sources.
Artificial Intelligence: A branch of computer science concerned with building programs capable of performing problem-solving tasks.
Assessment: The systematic collection and analysis of information to improve student learning.
Pedagogy: Instructional techniques and strategies that enable learning and provide opportunities for acquiring knowledge.
Critical Thinking: The ability to interpret and make judgments about the relevance and quality of information.
Chatbots: Programs that combine artificial intelligence and natural language processing or other technology that enable them to interact to a certain level of conversation with human users.
Inclusive Learning: A pedagogical approach that strives to serve the needs of all students, regardless of background or identity.
Academic Integrity: Completing academic work without plagiarizing, cheating, receiving assistance from unauthorized assistance from any other person, or using any source of information not appropriately attributed.
Educational Chatbots: Chatbots designed to assist student learning.
Virtual Assistants or Intelligent Assistants: Software programs that allow human users to find relevant information from the internet or complete tasks quickly.
ChatGPT: A chatbot launched in November 2022 by OpenAI, an American AI research laboratory, that can perform a series of tasks such as writing computer code, solving math problems, interpreting questions, and providing accurate and thorough answers.