Sciences Po Bans Chat GPT

With the recent creation of Chat GPT, dystopian visions of a world dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) left the confines of sci-fi. ChatGPT is the AI tool that has made headlines for its impressive range of abilities — from its potential to replace the London School of Economics president, as advocated in a student petition, to its capacity to pass bar exams and the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).  

The free program works similarly to Google: users type a question into a box and hit enter, to which the chatbox responds with everything from detailed explanations of code to essays on immigration law. The general public has access to this groundbreaking software for the first time. Yet, while its creation has opened new opportunities, it has also evoked new fears. 

The service’s audience is not limited to students — its ability to explain complex topics concisely has drawn a significant number to the platform from across the globe. Some use it innocently — describing how to derive a formula, for example — while others have abused the technology’s power to have it essentially complete assignments for them. Student use of the platform has sparked fevered discussion amongst the education community. 

Sciences Po students at all campuses received a message addressing ChatGPT from Sergei Guriev, Sciences Po Paris’ Economics Provost, on Jan. 25, 2023. 

“The use of ChatGPT or any other tool using AI, without the transparent referencing, is strictly forbidden in the academic space under the penalty of expulsion from the institution or even from the entire system of higher education,” Guriev warned.

While Chat GPT poses threats to academic integrity, many — including Guriev — also seem to see its potential as an educational tool and the changes it will bring to the future of education. In his message, Guriev announced that, in spring 2023, Sciences Po plans to host a series of conferences and workshops on teaching and research in the era of growing AI importance. 

Across the Menton campus, students have been experimenting with the program and reflecting on its pros and cons. For example, some students argue that tools like ChatGPT will prevent future students from learning skills in research and argumentation. In contrast, others believe that aversion to this new technology parallels the apprehension around tools like Wikipedia becoming wildly available to our generation. Therefore, the system must adapt rather than resist these developments. 

“I agree [with the Sciences Po administration] that ChatGPT shouldn’t be used on exams, but I think it can be an important tool that makes work more efficient and shouldn’t be completely banned,” remarked one anonymous student. 

On the other hand, some students believe that adaptation to these developments, including allowing ChatGPT and other AI tools, to be used on exams and assignments. When asked about using the platform, many students said it helps them primarily with small tasks like writing emails. Some use it to make preliminary outlines for projects or to summarize readings but have found mixed results with its accuracy. “It is definitely a formulaic response; you can tell when an outline was written on ChatGPT because it always follows the same format,” a student said. 

Several other students agreed with this observation, saying that it is impossible to rely solely on ChatGPT to complete assignments, but it can be beneficial to start brainstorming. Similarly, many noticed that certain summaries of readings were inaccurate because they summarized the author’s work entirely — opposed to just the chapter or section — making them unreliable. However, as technology expands, it will likely become more and more accurate. 

“Because ChatGPT makes tasks more efficient, it opens up our abilities to accomplish more in the time it saves, which creates more opportunities for societal progress,” concluded another student. 

While opinions on its role in education may differ, it is clear that AI will only continue to develop and alter our society and education system.