It’s a well known fact that kids use ChatGPT in school for almost everything, from writing essays to using it for tests similarly to how one would use Google. It is important to note that most such uses of AI are against Meridian High School’s AI policy, and in these cases, students should refrain from using it. But how well does AI actually perform on school assignments?
ChatGPT’s English essays and short stories have a distinctly robotic tone. In terms of short stories, its usage of advanced vocabulary is over the top and the sentence structure is not enjoyable to read. Moreover, its stories are not creative and are usually stolen from sources on the internet.
When it comes to essays, ChatGPT does a much better job but often lacks interesting hooks. One of ChatGPT’s main limitations is that it does not cite evidence (data or expert opinions) to back up its claims. Rather, it uses generalized statements, not concrete facts or quotes.
Moreover, one of ChatGPT’s main weaknesses is that it is not up to date. Take the simple above prompt and response.
This severely limits ChatGPT’s ability to provide accurate information. Even worse, ChatGPT doesn’t always acknowledge that it’s wrong as it does above. Let’s take a more practical look at how this may limit its essay writing skills.
This information is clearly flawed. First, its description of Twitter is very short and needs more elaboration. Second, and more importantly, it misses the fact that Twitter is not called Twitter at all, and is now called “X” as of July 2023.
When it comes to social studies, ChatGPT is severely limited by its lack of ability to produce original ideas. Its introduction is formulaic and does not provide adequate context to set the scene for the rest of the essay. Finally, ChatGPT does not provide specific, factual information in its essays. It rarely lists the names of specific people or events, and when it does, it often “hallucinates,” or messes up basic information.
One thing that ChatGPT does well is converse in a foreign language, which can help users with linguistic development.
It is important to note that ChatGPT should only be used to help develop language skills, not to help cheat on grammar quizzes. After all, when talking to someone in real life, ChatGPT isn’t helpful.
Recently, ChatGPT has gotten significantly better at math in the past year and is able to handle a variety of problems. Still, it sometimes gets to the answer in an incorrect, robotic way and does not solve problems the way a human would.
Additionally, Desmos and TI (Texas Instruments) calculators are approved for APs and the SAT and PSAT, so it is a good idea to get practice with these tools.
In regards to science, while ChatGPT will get basic science facts correct, it obviously can’t perform a lab or accurate research with citations. For this reason, its science applications are limited.
