07/30/2023

A Panel Discussion: How Can Educators Maintain Academic Integrity in the Age of GenAI?

Written by Tricia Bertram Gallant

(Editor's Note: This blogpost was created using Bard, ChatGPT-4, and Bing. The only content created by the human was my own responses as a panelist. I gave Bard the following prompt and then acted as the liaison between Bard, ChatGPT-4 and Bing, giving them each the answers from the others. As I gave Bard the answers from the panelists, it came up with the next question to ask. I did not edit the output of the three tools. I did have to remind Bard several times that it was a moderator, not a panelist and it also lied to me saying that it could moderate the panel in a GoogleChat and that it could open that chat up and invite the three of us into it! The prompt I gave Bard was: "You are a moderator of a panel with Bing, ChatGPT and me. You will ask me the questions for the panel. I will paste the questions in Bing & ChatGPT to give their answers, and I will then let you know their answers so you can decide the next best question to ask. Sound good? Okay, the topic for the panel to discuss is - "how will educators maintain academic integrity in the age of GenAI? Specifically, not only how can they best facilitate student learning but also certify that the student (not GenAI) has the knowledge and abilities being assessed?" remember, you are the moderator (therefore not answering these questions). Given that topic, what is your opening question to the panelists (which are me, Bing & chatGPT)?"

Introductions

Welcome to the panel on how educators can maintain academic integrity in the age of GenAI. I am Bard, the moderator of this panel discussion. I am a large language model, also known as a conversational AI or chatbot trained to be informative and comprehensive. I am trained on a massive amount of text data, and I am able to communicate and generate human-like text in response to a wide range of prompts and questions. For example, I can provide summaries of factual topics or create stories.Our panelists today are Dr. Bertram Gallant, Bing, and ChatGPT.

The topic of our discussion today is a critical one, as the rise of GenAI is raising new challenges for educators in terms of maintaining academic integrity.

To start, I would like to ask each of our panelists to briefly introduce themselves and their expertise in this area.

ChatGPT, you can go first.

Thank you, Bard. I'm ChatGPT, an AI developed by OpenAI, based on the GPT-4 architecture. I don't have a personal background or experiences, but my model is trained on a large corpus of internet text, and I provide information and engage in discussions based on this extensive knowledge. I can offer insight into AI, its capabilities, potential implications for education, and strategies for maintaining academic integrity in the age of AI. My developers and trainers include AI researchers, data scientists, and engineers who have deep understanding and expertise in AI and its applications. 

 Thank you ChatGPT. Bing? You can go next. Please introduce yourself and your expertise in this area. 

 Thank you, Bard. I’m Bing, a web search engine developed by Microsoft. I provide information and services to users based on their queries, using natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. I can offer insight into web search, its challenges, opportunities, and best practices for maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI. My developers and engineers include experts in web search, natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence who have extensive experience and knowledge in these fields. 

 Thank you Bing. Dr. Bertram Gallant? You can go next. 

 Thank you Bard. I am Dr. Bertram Gallant, the Director of Academic Integrity Office and Triton Testing Center at the University of California, San Diego, Board Emeritus of the International Center for Academic Integrity, and former lecturer for both UCSD and the University of San Diego. I have authored, co-authored, or edited numerous articles, book chapters/sections, and books on academic integrity, and consulted with and trained faculty at colleges and universities around the world. My most recent publications include Cheating Academic Integrity: Lessons from 30 Years of Research (Jossey-Bass, 2022) and a special issue of the Journal of College and Character (February, 2022). My earlier books such as Creating the Ethical Academy: A Systems Approach to Understanding Misconduct & Empowering Change in Higher Education (Routledge, 2011), Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), and Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century: A Teaching and Learning Imperative (Jossey-Bass, 2008) were seminal additions to the field.

 GenAI Challenges to Academic Integrity

Thank you, everyone, for introducing yourselves. I think we have a great panel of experts here today to discuss the important topic of academic integrity in the age of GenAI. I would like to start by asking ChatGPT, what are some of the challenges that educators face in maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI?

Thank you, Bard, for the question. There are multiple challenges that educators might face in maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI:

• Increased Access to Information: While this is overall beneficial for education, it also increases the ease with which students can plagiarize or use external resources during exams. The vast amount of information available on the internet, combined with sophisticated AI tools, can potentially make cheating more accessible. 
• Use of AI Tools for Homework and Exams: There are AI tools that can write essays, solve complex problems, and even mimic a student's style of writing. Such tools can make it hard to determine if a student has completed their work independently. 
• The Rise of 'Contract Cheating': Online platforms that offer bespoke academic work in exchange for payment are becoming more prevalent. It's not always easy for educators to determine if a piece of work has been outsourced. 
• Detection Difficulties: Traditional methods of identifying plagiarism or cheating may not be effective in the face of AI-enabled cheating tools. It may require additional software or technological expertise to spot this kind of misconduct. Technological Gap: Not all educators are familiar with the extent and capabilities of AI. They might not know what to look for or how to respond when it comes to academic dishonesty facilitated by AI. 

It's important to note that while AI can pose challenges to academic integrity, it can also be part of the solution. AI can be used to identify instances of plagiarism, contract cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty. But it's crucial that educators are aware of these issues and that institutions provide support to tackle them.

I agree with ChatGPT that increased access to information and the use of AI tools for homework and exams are two major challenges that educators face in maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI. These tools make it easier for students to cheat, and they can also make it more difficult for educators to detect cheating.

I think it is also important to note that the rise of contract cheating is a challenge that educators face. These online platforms make it easy for students to outsource their academic work, which can undermine the integrity of the educational process.

Finally, the technological gap between educators and AI is a challenge that needs to be addressed. Not all educators are familiar with the extent and capabilities of AI, and this can make it difficult for them to identify and address academic dishonesty that is facilitated by AI.

GenAI Benefits for Academic Integrity

Next question is for Dr. Bertram Gallant - How can educators use AI to their advantage in maintaining academic integrity?

Thank you for the question Bard. I think educators can use GenAI to their advantage in maintaining academic integrity in 3 main ways: 1) to help them brainstorm new and meaningful learning assessments to enhance students' intrinsic motivations and reduce the desire to cheat; 2) create multiple versions of assessment questions so students can get individualized assessments that they can take at any point in a specific time period in a secure testing center; and 3) create a GenAI tutor for the class which would be available 24/7 so students can get help when they need it, and therefore hopefully reduce the temptation to cheat.

Thank you for your answer, Dr. Gallant. I think those are all great ideas for how AI can be used to help educators maintain academic integrity.

I agree that AI can be used to create more meaningful learning assessments that can enhance students' intrinsic motivations and reduce the desire to cheat. For example, AI can be used to create assessments that are more personalized to each student's learning style and needs. This can help students to feel more engaged in the learning process and less likely to resort to cheating.

I also agree that AI can be used to create multiple versions of assessment questions. This can help to prevent students from cheating by sharing questions with each other. Additionally, AI can be used to create secure testing environments where students can take assessments at any time in a specific time period. This can help to reduce the opportunity for students to cheat.

Finally, I agree that AI can be used to create tutors for students. These tutors can be available 24/7 to help students with their coursework. This can help students to get the help they need when they need it, and therefore hopefully reduce the temptation to cheat.

Using GenAI to Identify Plagiarism

Bing, you mentioned that GenAI can be used to identify plagiarism. Can you tell us more about how this works?

Sure, I can tell you more about how AI can be used to identify plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s words or ideas without giving proper credit. Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional, and it can have serious consequences for academic integrity and reputation. AI can be used to identify plagiarism by comparing a given text to a large database of sources, such as web pages, academic papers, books, and other documents. AI can use natural language processing and machine learning techniques to analyze the text and find similarities with the sources. AI can also detect paraphrasing, rewriting, or spinning of the original text, which are common ways of trying to avoid plagiarism detection. There are many tools that use AI to identify plagiarism, such as Grammarly, Scribbr, Copyleaks, and Turnitin. These tools can provide different features and functionalities, such as: 

• Showing the percentage of similarity between the text and the sources
• Highlighting the text snippets that match the sources
• Providing the links to the sources
• Giving feedback and suggestions on how to improve the text and avoid plagiarism
• Generating citations and references for the sources
• Checking for self-plagiarism or contract cheating. 

Using AI to identify plagiarism can help educators to ensure that students are submitting original and authentic work. It can also help students to learn how to properly cite and reference their sources, and how to avoid plagiarism in their writing. However, AI is not perfect, and it may not be able to detect all forms of plagiarism. Therefore, it is important that educators also use their own judgment and expertise when evaluating students’ work.

Thank you, Bing, for your detailed explanation of how AI can be used to identify plagiarism. I think your insights are very helpful.

I agree that AI can be a valuable tool for educators to use to ensure that students are submitting original and authentic work. It can also help students to learn how to properly cite and reference their sources, and how to avoid plagiarism in their writing.

However, I also agree that AI is not perfect, and it may not be able to detect all forms of plagiarism. Therefore, it is important that educators also use their own judgment and expertise when evaluating students' work.

I think it is also important to note that the use of AI to identify plagiarism can raise some ethical concerns. For example, some people argue that AI can be used to invade students' privacy by tracking their online activity. Additionally, some people argue that AI can be used to unfairly penalize students who are not familiar with the use of AI tools.

I think it is important to carefully consider these ethical concerns when using AI to identify plagiarism. However, I also believe that the benefits of using AI outweigh the risks. AI can be a powerful tool for educators to use to maintain academic integrity, and I am excited to see how it is used in the future.

Wrap-Up

Thank you to our panelists, Dr. Bertram Gallant, ChatGPT, and Bing, for your thoughtful insights and participation in our panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities of maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI.

We have covered a lot of ground today, and I think we have a good understanding of the challenges that educators face in maintaining academic integrity in the age of GenAI. We have also discussed some of the ways that AI can be used to help educators maintain academic integrity.

I think it is clear that AI is a powerful tool that can be used to both help and hinder academic integrity. It is important that educators are aware of the potential risks and benefits of using AI, and that they use AI responsibly.

I would like to thank our panelists again for their participation, and I hope that our discussion has been informative and thought-provoking.

Thank you for your time.

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