Mapping the Contours

Utopic and Dystopic Perspectives on the Use of AI in Higher Education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/cpai.v7i4.78308

Keywords:

Generative AI, academic integrity, future, education

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education, with a focus on assessment and academic integrity in higher education. We conducted a thematic analysis of literature on AI and academic integrity, framed by possible utopic and dystopic scenarios. We found that AI can be used to generate text, summarize work, create outlines, and provide information and resources on a particular topic, saving time and money. We argue that effective institutional policies should be established around the use of AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, to better serve the fields of education and academic research. The paper also discusses the implications of AI for university students, including the potential for personalized learning, quick feedback on student work, and improved accessibility for students with disabilities. However, the use of AI in education raises concerns about academic integrity and the potential for cheating. We caution that ethical considerations under existing academic integrity frameworks must be considered when implementing AI in education. The article concludes by calling for further research on the impact of AI on education and the development of guidelines and policies to ensure that AI is used in a responsible and ethical manner.

Author Biography

Dr. Rahul Kumar, Brock University

Assistant Professor, 

Department of Educational Studies

References

Aaronson, S. (2022, November 28). My AI safety lecture for UT effective altruism. Shtetl-Optimized. https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6823

Armstrong, K. (2023, May 27). ChatGPT: US lawyer admits using AI for case research. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65735769

Bertram Gallant, T., & Drinan, P. (2006). Organizational theory and student cheating: Explanation, responses, and strategies. The Journal of Higher Education, 77(5), 839–860. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2006.0041

Bretag, T. (2019). From “perplexities of plagiarism” to “building cultures of integrity”: A reflection on fifteen years of academic integrity research, 2003–2018. HERDSA Review of Higher Education, 6, 5–35. https://www.herdsa.org.au/herdsa-review-higher-education-vol-6/5-35

bri does things. (2023, April 20). How to use ChatGPT to easily learn any skill you want [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/MnDudvCyWpc

Canadian Teachers’ Federation. (2022). “But at what cost?” Teacher mental health during COVID-19. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED621974.pdf

Choo, F., & Tan, K. (2008). The effect of fraud triangle factors on students’ cheating behaviors. In B. N. Schwartz & A. H. Catanach, Jr. (Eds.), Advances in accounting education (Vol. 9, pp. 205–220). Emerald Group. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1085-4622(08)09009-3

Christensen Hughes, J. M., & McCabe, D. L. (2006). Academic misconduct within higher education in Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v36i2.183537

Conte, N. (2024, January 24). Ranked: The most popular AI tools. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-popular-ai-tools/

Couturier, C. (2023, September 20). Artificial intelligence at universities: A pressing issue. University Affairs. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/artificial-intelligence-at-universities-a-pressing-issue/

Crossman, K. (2022). Education as a financial transaction: Contract employment and contract cheating. In S. E. Eaton & J. Christensen Hughes (Eds.), Academic integrity in Canada: An enduring and essential challenge (Vol. 1., pp. 217–230). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_11

Cutri, J., Freya, A., Karlina, Y., Patel, S. V., Moharami, M., Zeng, S., Manzari, E., & Pretorius, L. (2021). Academic integrity at doctoral level: the influence of the imposter phenomenon and cultural differences on academic writing. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 17(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-021-00074-w

Dawson, P. (2021). Defending assessment security in a digital world: Preventing e-cheating and supporting academic integrity in higher education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429324178

Dawson, P. (2023). Don’t fear the robot: Future-authentic assessment and generative artificial intelligence. Werklund School of Education. University of Calgary. https://werklund.ucalgary.ca/dont-fear-robot

Eaton, S. E. (2020, January 15). Cheating may be under-reported across Canada’s universities and colleges. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/cheating-may-be-under-reported-across-canadas-universities-and-colleges-129292

Eaton, S. E. (2023, February 25). 6 tenets of postplagiarism: Writing in the age of artificial intelligence. Learning, Teaching and Leadership. https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com/2023/02/25/6-tenets-of-postplagiarism-writing-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/

Eaton, S. E., Crossman, K., & Edino, R. I. (2019). Academic integrity in Canada: An annotated bibliography. The University of Calgary. https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36334

Eaton, S. E., Mindzak, M., & Morrison, R. (2021, May 29–June 3). The impact of text-generating technologies on academic integrity: AI & AI [Paper presentation]. Canadian Association for the Study of Educational Administration (CASEA), Edmonton, AB, Canada. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353169564_The_impact_of_text-generating_technologies_on_academic_integrity_AI_AI

Griffin, A. (2022, October 20). NYU Professor Maitland Jones Jr. fired for being too hard says colleges “coddle students.” New York Post. https://nypost.com/2022/10/20/nyu-professor-fired-for-being-too-hard-said-colleges-coddle-students-for-tuition-money

Halaweh, M. (2023). ChatGPT in education: Strategies for responsible implementation. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(2), Article 421. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13036

Harris, L., Harrison, D., McNally, D., & Ford, C. (2020). Academic integrity in an online culture: Do McCabe’s findings hold true for online, adult learners? Journal of Academic Ethics, 18(4), 419–434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-019-09335-3

Holmes, W. (2023, October). The unintended consequences of Artificial Intelligence and education. Education International. https://www.ei-ie.org/en/author/1610:wayne-holmes

Hurley, J. (2022, October 29). An explosion in A+ students: Grades are rising at GTA high schools—Here’s what it means for your kids. The Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/10/29/an-explosion-in-a-students-grades-are-rising-at-gta-high-schools-heres-what-it-means-for-your-kids.html

Illingworth, S. (2023, January 19). ChatGPT: Students could use AI to cheat, but it’s a chance to rethink assessment altogether. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-students-could-use-ai-to-cheat-but-its-a-chance-to-rethink-assessment-altogether-198019

International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI). (2021). The fundamental values of academic integrity (3rd ed.). https://academicintegrity.org/resources/Fundamental-Values

Kumar, R. (2023). Faculty members’ use of artificial intelligence to grade student papers: A case of implications. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 19, Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00130-7

Kumar, R., Eaton, S. E., Mindzak, M., & Morrison, R. (2023). Academic integrity and artificial intelligence: An overview. In S. E. Eaton (Ed.), Handbook of academic integrity (2nd ed., pp. 1–14). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-079-7_153-1

Kumar, R., & Mindzak, M. (2024). Who wrote this? Detecting artificial intelligence-generated text from human-written text. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity, 7(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/cpai.v7i1.77675

Lancaster, T. (2023). Artificial intelligence, text generation tools and ChatGPT—Does digital watermarking offer a solution? International Journal for Educational Integrity, 19, Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00131-6

Lee, H. (2023). The rise of ChatGPT: Exploring its potential in medical education. Anatomical Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.2270

Lynch, J., Glew, P., Salamonson, Y., & Ramjan, L. M. (2022). “Integrity is integrity. IT doesn’t matter the context”: A qualitative exploratory study of academic integrity in an undergraduate nursing program. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 17(4), 465–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2022.06.013

Lynch, J., Salamonson, Y., Glew, P., & Ramjan, L. M. (2021). “I’m not an investigator and I’m not a police officer”—A faculty’s view on academic integrity in an undergraduate nursing degree. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 17(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-021-00086-6

Mahabeer, P., & Pirtheepal, T. (2019). Assessment, plagiarism and its effect on academic integrity: Experiences of academics at a university in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 115(11/12), Article 6323. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2019/6323

Marr, B. (2023, May 19). A short history of ChatGPT: How we got to where we are today. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/05/19/a-short-history-of-chatgpt-how-we-got-to-where-we-are-today/?sh=cbf9318674f1

McCabe, D. (2016). Cheating and honor: Lessons from a long-term research project. In T. Bretag (Ed.), Handbook of academic integrity (pp 187–198). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_35

Morreel, S., Mathysen, D., & Verhoeven, V. (2023). Aye, AI! ChatGPT passes multiple-choice family medicine exam. Medical Teacher, 45(6), 665–666. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2023.2187684

O’Connor, S. (2023). Open artificial intelligence platforms in nursing education: Tools for academic progress or abuse? Nurse Education in Practice, 66, Article 103537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103537

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing success: Assessment, evaluation, and reporting in Ontario schools. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf

Owens, R. G., & Valesky, T. C. (2015). Organizational behavior in education: Leadership and school reform (11th ed.). Pearson.

Parkman, A. (2016). The imposter phenomenon in higher education: Incidence and impact. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 16(1), 51–60. https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JHETP/article/view/1936

Perkins, M., & Roe, J. (2023). Decoding academic integrity policies: A corpus linguistics investigation of AI and other technological threats. Higher Education Policy. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-023-00323-2

Rahman, M. M., & Watanobe, Y. (2023). ChatGPT for education and research: Opportunities, threats, and strategies. Applied Sciences, 13(9), Article 5783. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13095783

Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(9), 676–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002

Sanni-Anibire, H., Stoesz, B. M., Gervais, L., & Vogt, L. (2021). International students’ knowledge and emotions related to academic integrity at Canadian postsecondary institutions. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 17(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-021-00088-4

Seetharaman, R. (2023). Revolutionizing medical education: Can ChatGPT boost subjective learning and expression? Journal of Medical Systems, 47(1), Article 61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-023-01957-w

Sefcik, L., Striepe, M., & Yorke, J. (2020). Mapping the landscape of academic integrity education programs: What approaches are effective? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(1), 30–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1604942

Singer, P. W. (2009). Military robots and the laws of war. The New Atlantis, 23, 25–45. https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/military-robots-and-the-laws-of-war

Statistics Canada. (2023, October 9). Table 37-10-0011-0: Postsecondary enrolments, by field of study, registration status, program type, credential type and gender. https://doi.org/10.25318/3710001101-eng

Stevenson, S. M., Flannigan, K., Willey, A., & Kaur, T. (2023). Exploring factors that contribute to nursing students’ willingness to report peer academic integrity violations. Nursing Education Perspectives, 44(3), 140–146. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001090

Stoesz, B. M., Quesnel, M., & De Jaeger, A. E. (2023). Student perceptions of academic misconduct amongst their peers during the transition to emergency remote instruction. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 19(1), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00136-1

Strzelecki, A. (2023). To use or not to use ChatGPT in higher education? A study of students’ acceptance and use of technology. Interactive Learning Environments. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2023.2209881

Trager, R. (2022, October 11). Eminent NYU chemist fired after students complain about taxing organic chemistry course. Chemistry World. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/eminent-nyu-chemist-fired-after-students-complain-about-taxing-organic-chemistry-course/4016354.article

Uzair, M., & Chen, J. (2021). An overview study of importance of artificial intelligence in the improvement of online education. In W. Wang, G. Wang, X. Ding, & B. Zhang (Eds.), Artificial intelligence in education and teaching assessment (pp. 79–85). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6502-8_9

Vellanki, S. S., Mond, S., & Khan, Z. K. (2023). Promoting academic integrity in remote/online assessment—EFL teachers’ perspectives. TESL-EJ, 26(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.26104a7

Weber-Wulff, D., Anohina-Naumeca, A., Bjelobaba, S., Foltýnek, T., Guerrero-Dib, J., Popoola, O., Šigut, P., & Waddington, L. (2023). Testing of detection tools for AI-generated text. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 19, Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00146-z

Wolfe, D., & Hermanson, D. R. (2004). The fraud diamond: Considering four elements of fraud. The CPA Journal, 74(12), 38–42. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/facpubs/1537/

Yu, H. (2023). Reflection on whether Chat GPT should be banned by academia from the perspective of education and teaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1181712. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181712

Zhu, C., Sun, M., Luo, J., Li, T., & Wang, M. (2023). How to harness the potential of ChatGPT in education? Knowledge Management & e-Learning, 15(2), 133–152. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2023.15.008

Downloads

Published

2024-04-19

How to Cite

Sarkar, S., & Kumar, R. (2024). Mapping the Contours: Utopic and Dystopic Perspectives on the Use of AI in Higher Education. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/cpai.v7i4.78308

Issue

Section

Peer-reviewed Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)