My mother was the 70’s version of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence.

That was then and this is now

Who hasn’t been reading about ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform making the news. This made me think about how people used to create polished work before computers. Back in the day, mothers like mine were like Chat GPTs or AI. My mother typed all of our term papers, correcting grammar and spelling errors, teaching my siblings and me and editing a final product that was well thought out and error-free to hand in to our teachers. Armed with a whiteout and her typewriter, my mom spent many hours at our kitchen table for all six of us. 

My mother is Eloise Kreuz and she is 91 years old. Today she continues to demonstrate the same knowledge base and intuitive skills that she had in the 1970’s. Her knowledge base is vast and her intuitive skills were the 70’s version of AI. She was a top student in high school and nursing school which made her a valuable resource for us. My grandkids and great-grandkids will be amazed to hear about my mother’s skills. Current day her cognitive skills have not been compromised. 

It’s amazing how technology can support subject matter experts (SMEs) these days. As an AI language model, I’ve learned that my ability to process information and generate text can help people think more and type less. When I started my blog, I realized that writing requires a lot of effort and editing. I read a book or two to hone my skills.  “Lapsing into a comma “ was one of my favorites.

So I ask myself “What’s the future hold with AI as a tool?”

With the increasing reliance on AI, many wonder what the future holds for education. Will we revert to hand-written exams and no calculators to truly test our knowledge? As technology becomes more advanced, it can detect even the slightest hint of plagiarism or dishonesty. One student experienced this firsthand when they took a college class with a friend and the final exam was a take-home. The student found a case study in the library that was a mirror image of the exam and was able to write it in their own words. However, their friend plagiarized the content and received a D while the student received an A. That student was me. This situation is similar to the experience of Professor Albert Pautler at UB conveyed to me. Al Pautler told me “I had a doctoral student that included lengthy statements from a book written by a friend without any citation or credit given. I emphasized the importance of ethics in academia and how using others’ work without proper credit is considered stealing. I informed the student that he could no longer trust him or serve as his doctoral advisor, and the student ultimately dropped out of the program.” Pautler stresses that all doctoral level students were aware of the ethics surrounding plagiarism and giving proper credit to authors.

Before I started reading, writing was always a challenge for me. Reading helped expand my vocabulary and improved my comprehensive reading skills. I’m still learning. I’m excited to see how AI can improve the quality of my work. However, as with any tool, there’s always the risk of misuse or over reliance. It’s up to us to use AI responsibly and ethically, and to continue to develop our own writing skills and research knowledge.

At the end of the day, AI is just one tool in our toolbox. My advice is to use it wisely to support our goals and aspirations. Early on I found ChatPGT lacks artistry, insight, and compassion and these are critical to effective writing. As technology continues to evolve, I look forward to seeing how we can harness its power to make our lives better and more fulfilling.

Oh by the way, here is a log in URL you can get at through Google for a free trial https://chat.openai.com/auth/login