06/14/2023

ChatGPT is Unoriginal—and Exactly What Humans Need

The tech can serve as a shortcut for jumpstarting creativity

Consider a teenager, Jorge, who is caught possessing a large amount of marijuana by a school administrator and will be expelled if he’s reported to his parole officer. If the administrator does not report him, they’re breaking the law; if they do, they’re condemning him to one of the worst schools in the city and likely recidivism. 

This is a case study we presented to a class of 60 students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We asked them to pretend to be a teacher or administrator at the school and design a course of action. One hour into their conversation, we presented them with ChatGPT's analysis of the study.

The program suggested several anodyne solutions: "We must initiate a review of [the school's] existing policies and procedures related to substance abuse, with the goal of ensuring they are consistent, transparent, and reflective of best practices… The school should take a compassionate approach [but] also communicate clearly that drug abuse and related offenses will not be tolerated… This approach should be taken while ensuring that the school is responsive to the unique needs of its students, particularly those from low-income and working-class backgrounds."

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.