FALL 2023 | 39 bounds should be.” Edwards is also troubled that ChatGPT doesn’t provide a bibliography of sources, and she says she has caught the bot making up information. In one class, she asked it to tell her about a title she made up and attributed to author Gloria Naylor— “I’m Out of Coffee and I Really Need Some.” ChatGPT made up an entire narrative about the false story as if it were true. For now, Edwards doesn’t see ChatGPT serving a purpose in her classes, and she believes its impact on education could be overstated. “It’s less useful for students than Wikipedia. If you’re giving an assignment in your class that a student can turn in an AI-generated response and pass, it’s not a good assignment,” she says. “I’m not saying it won’t ever be a good tool, maybe it will be, but it’s only ever going to be a tool that requires verification.” At a CITL workshop over the summer on generative AI, faculty shared what they see as the benefits and drawbacks of the technology, particularly ChatGPT. The technology is good at summarizing articles, can troubleshoot code, can help students who are not native English speakers polish their prose and can help students outline their thoughts before writing a paper. A concern was that ChatGPT could make it harder to assess the quality of students’ work. At least one professor plans to emphasize in-person writing to better appraise students’ writing skills and make sure they aren’t relying on generative AI. Reihman encourages faculty to address generative AI whether they plan to use it in their class or not. “If you don’t say anything about ChatGPT, you’re leaving an open question in your students’ minds,” he said. “If you want to raise the topic with your students, it’s best to think about whether you want to allow it in your class and, if so, how.” Urban says he doesn’t foresee a blanket policy on generative AI at Lehigh. Faculty are free to conduct their classes how they see fit, he says, and doesn’t want to restrict what they might want to do with the technology. “I think we, as a university, are looking to embrace it and use it to enhance the kind of education we provide without ignoring some of the risks and intrinsic biases, without ignoring the fact that it may make it more difficult to assess students in some cases,” Urban says. “I would say we are even excited about the ways in which it can be used and the opportunity to teach students how to use it both effectively and ethically.” L students with better ways of navigating their four years in higher education. That could include concrete directions, such as a map to a building, or something metaphorical, like creating a personalized list of classes and activities students might enjoy based on their interests. “To me, getting technology to be part of the university experience is very natural,” Urban said. “It’s especially natural for the current generation of students who have had these kinds of technologies around for quite some time. In some ways, they probably expect it and wonder why finding their way through a university is so hard.” Students on the Echo Hawks team include Thaksheel Alleck ’25, Nix Huang ’25, Ryan Javier ’26, Elias Juvan ’26 and Renzo Medina ’25. Alleck, who has been involved in Echo Hawks from the beginning, said he was drawn to it because he wanted to work on something that would help as many students as possible. “The problem is there’s nothing that’s very efficient and accessible where you can get this information right now,” he said. “Most of the time, you need a laptop, a phone or email [address]. ... The solution here is creating a system that can give you instant access.” If Echo Hawks works well, Urban envisions an Echo Dot in the entrance to every building on campus as well as other applications of similar technology to aid students’ learning and success at Lehigh. Students in Lyam Gabel and Will Lowry’s first-year seminar present a project that includes AI-generated imagery projected on a screen behind them. “IF YOU DON’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT CHATGPT, YOU’RE LEAVING AN OPEN QUESTION IN YOUR STUDENTS’ MINDS.” —GREG REIHMAN HOLLY FASCHING ’26
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