Living in the digital age has given our generation many advantages. The ability to instantly reach those close to us, post content for both them and acquaintances alike, the ability to stream videos, shows and movies instantly and the ability to get information in seconds gives users immense power.

This last point in particular has changed the education system a fair amount. Some argue it’s for the better, while some argue it’s for the worst. 

It’s definitely better in the sense that education is far easier. Gone are the days where we need to flip through massive encyclopedias to find answers, and while we still must flip through textbooks for our classes, we always have a second option constantly looming over our heads: “I could just look it up.” 

While you still need to sift through information to find your answers, it’s definitely still much easier than sifting through hundreds pages in a book.

Recently, however, a third option has been added: ChatGPT. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a an artificial intelligence chatbot created to give answers even more instantly and sometimes even more accurately than Google. 

Moreover, this AI tool can help mitigate the issue of information overload, a primary caveat of technology in this digital aid, specifically with search engine technology. With ChatGPT, on the other hand, users are given one, lengthy answer to their queries, making assignments, studying and writing essays much easier.

You can use ChatGPT to answer questions on your study guide that you just don’t understand, you can use it to create citations and you can even get it to write an essay for you (though I wouldn’t recommend it per UWO’s AI policy).

This sounds awesome, right? What could possibly be the problem with this technology? To be honest, i don’t think there’s anything wrong with this technology in nature. Besides the few errors this AI tool produces, the real problem is the users.

Now, before you get too defensive, I’m not saying you specifically. That is unless you feel called out, in which case I am.

I’m talking about the people—students specifically—that depend on ChatGPT to get through the school year successfully.

I think that we forget sometimes that college isn’t high school, and that we are all going to college to hopefully get a career in our area of study. This is when reliance or even just overuse of AI can get dangerous.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to be operated on by somebody who aced all their classes using ChatGPT. At that point, why are you even in school? 

I think that sometimes we have the tendency to treat college like high school, and while they are similar, they are not the same. We choose to go to school in hopes that we can one day find a career in our field, hopefully one that surrounds our dreams and passions. In order to get that job and stay in it, you need to be able to do the things you spent four years studying without having to reference AI first. 

Some students will just use ChatGPT to help brainstorm titles or prompts for their essays, and while this isn’t nearly as problematic, they are still doing a disservice to themselves. 

According to Psychology Today, creativity is a muscle that needs to be used or “exercised” in order to develop and grow. Relying on ChatGPT will not only create lackluster and impersonal prompts, but it will weaken your creativity muscle. 

Afterall, “creativity is intelligence having fun,” as the genius Albert Einstein once said. It would be a crime to deprive yourself of one of the most fun parts of being a student.

Don’t get me wrong, ChatGPT can be an amazing tool when used right. Technology is not innately bad, and it is not the enemy. The enemy is us when we overuse, misuse and rely on AI to do our work.