Educators weigh in on AI software [Video]

Ed McHugh, a business and marketing instructor at Nova Scotia Community College, is a seasoned professor who reviews and grades nearly 300 students’ work throughout the school year.

However, recently, he has noticed a troubling trend with students using artificial intelligence software, like ChatGPT, to complete group projects and assignments.

“ChatGPT is starting to increase its usage with students and it’s becoming a real problem in terms of assessment,” he says.

McHugh says he can tell a student has used ChatGPT to cheat by using quotes without citing the correct source or by knowing the students skill-level.

“I’ve received emails from students that include grammatical errors but their assignment is written at masters-level,” he says. “Other times, during group projects, people share that their group member is using ChatGPT because they don’t want to risk getting caught.”

McHugh says it is becoming increasingly difficult to know if students are plagiarizing.

“In the past, people could plagiarize and there were tools to …