If You Can't Beat It, Join It! Students in This USYD Course Are Told to “Write Essays with ChatGPT”!

USYD Medical School Students Told to “Write Essays with ChatGPT”

Students at the University of Sydney’s Medical School have become some of the first to be told they may use the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to write essays — they will use ChatGPT to complete their very first assignment in Semester 1.

Martin Brown, a tutor for the Medical School course Contemporary Medical Challenges, and his colleagues all feel that it is impossible to ignore the existence of ChatGPT, so they may as well make it part of the course.

The assignment that requires the use of ChatGPT was due last Sunday night. It asked the 180 students in the class to pose a question about contemporary medical challenges and have ChatGPT write an article on it. Students were required to read the AI-written essay, edit it again, observe the changes before and after, and submit the final version.

Martin Brown said the assignment was designed to test students’ judgement and creativity, because these are the skills they will need in their careers, rather than simply collating information.

Successfully tackling a question and getting ChatGPT to produce the best possible article is one of the main criteria for success, and the teacher responsible for marking will also judge whether the essay meets an acceptable academic standard.

Martin Brown said: “We want to make sure our graduates are not simply using ChatGPT to complete their assignments. We want them to have sharp judgement and to be curious about the future.”

Since ChatGPT was released last November, universities across the country have been grappling with its arrival. The University of Sydney and other Group of Eight (Go8) universities said in December last year that, to prevent students from using this AI technology to cheat, they needed to bring back in-person, pen-and-paper exams.

A spokeswoman for the University of Sydney said they have always believed it is necessary to teach students how to use the internet effectively and lawfully. Other courses also require students to use ChatGPT in their assignments this semester.

One engineering subject asks students to use ChatGPT to draft questions in emails as part of an assignment. University management said businesses are already using this technology.

A spokesperson for UNSW also said that some subjects will allow students to use ChatGPT.

A spokesperson for UTS said staff are still working to figure out how to use this technology appropriately.