Ed tech must reads: column #66

February 01, 2023

First published in Campus Morning Mail 31st Jan, 2023

The AI (ChatGPT) future: what do we do now? Webinar Thursday 2/2 12 noon AEDT – Update

This is just a quick update on this webinar that I mentioned last week. Due to higher than expected interest, we have moved it to a Zoom webinar platform kindly provided by Monash. If you previously registered, you should have received a new invitation with the updated details. The session will be recorded and a link to the recording provided here in the near future.

In news that should surprise nobody, Microsoft last week significantly lifted their investment in the OpenAI organisation. Why does this matter? There is reasonable speculation that they plan to integrate generative AI functionality into the Office suite of software by the end of the year. For those institutions still straddling the fence between block and control in terms of these tools, that would make it virtually inescapable. Are we ready for SuperClippy?

Some of the most passionate arguments that you will hear against these technologies come from creatives, particularly visual artists who raise valid questions about the extent to which AI generated works informed by libraries of billions of images may infringe copyright or at least moral rights. Some have been able to point to elements of images that directly match their own – and sometimes even find their signatures. The rise of these tools has already had a chilling effect on work for copywriters and artists. I sympathise greatly but suspect that the genie is truly out of the bottle. This piece explores the current legal landscape in the US.

As the potential impact of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has become clearer, some people’s hopes have turned to detection tools. This space seems to be the second new goldrush in education, as I see wild claims and huge promises by the day. This piece from David Gerwitz tests three leading detection tools, with fairly unconvincing results.