Varsities, colleges in Karnataka get ready for ChatGPT threat

Higher education institutions are scrambling to tackle the threat of students using ChatGPT - the AI-driven chatbot that has taken the world by storm with its human-like responses - to write assignments and worksheets.

A few institutions have already discussed the matter, while one college principal worried that the rise of the chatbot would "kill creativity".

At RV University, the computer science engineering department issued an internal circular asking students not to use ChatGPT and other AI-based platforms such as GitHub Copilot to write assignments.

The university has warned students that they will be asked randomly to reproduce their assignments to curb their dependence on ChatGPT.

"It's not that we found cases of plagiarism, but we're doing this to go forward systematically," RV University's computer science & engineering dean Sanjay R Chitnis said.

He said AI-based technology should be used like calculators. "We're not discouraging students from using technology, but they should use it like a calculator, which means they should first learn addition and subtraction manually," he said.

Released in November last year by California-based OpenAI, ChatGPT has triggered both excitement and anxiety across the world on account of the implications it could have in the future.

"ChatGPT is still new. We can't say no to it because detecting plagiarism is difficult," Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) vice-chancellor Vidyashankar S said, adding that he would discuss this with principals of affiliated engineering colleges and members of the university's executive council.

B V Ravishankar, principal of Nagarjuna College of Engineering and Technology, had a note of caution. "These kinds of platforms will kill creativity, writing and thinking among students," he said.

Worried, institutions are huddling to discuss ways to tackle challenges posed by ChatGPT, even as the platform has been accused of making up "fake" research papers that can be used as citations (Australian chess player David Smerdon posted a long Twitter thread on this Friday).

The University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) will convene a meeting to discuss ChatGPT, its principal HN Ramesh said.

Christ (Deemed to be University) registrar Anil Joseph Pinto said there was "a detailed discussion" on the use of ChatGPT. The university has decided to give faculty members a free hand on taking decisions while dealing with students found using ChatGPT.

M S Santhosh, joint registrar, Jain (Deemed to be University), said they are still discussing the matter, "Honestly, it's unfair on the part of students to rely upon such tools. We're formulating a policy," he said.