If generative AI like the text robot ChatGPT is used to create a term paper for the university, it is usually difficult to prove it. Berlin’s new Senator for Science, Ina Czyborra, initially sees the universities as having an obligation on this issue. Czyborra told the German Press Agency that they would have to deal with the topic and deal with the question of how examinations would come about and be assessed at all. The SPD state politician believes that only then can politicians think about possible regulation of AI. And she doesn’t think it’s that far yet. She even considers a ban to be unrealistic.
German examination system “a bit antiquated”
The senator said that during an examination, one should consider what the performance actually consists of. “You have to work on the tasks. Our examination system in Germany is a bit antiquated. In some other countries it’s more about group work and finding solutions and not about writing down knowledge individually in front of a piece of paper in the exam.” If you use the AI in group work, then that is realistic. “Because later, when I’m working on a solution, whether as an engineer or as a linguist, I’ll also use these methods.”
According to Czyborra, it is also essential to deal with the social effects of artificial intelligence. “So: How much racism, for example, can be in AI? What is reproduced through the reception of texts that are available to AI?” According to Czyborra, in the future, exams could include exams to determine whether students can deal critically with texts produced by AI. “It would then be about questioning the result, correcting it and commenting on it.”
In doing so, Czyborra expressed himself in a similar way to the President of Frankfurt’s Goethe University, Enrico Schleiff. He thinks that schools and universities in Germany should not only see artificial intelligence as a threat, but also see it as an incentive. Because in the future it will no longer be possible to determine whether AI was used for homework, instead of a ban, new teaching and examination formats in which the individual level of performance is evaluated should be considered. A lot is happening in Berlin in the field of AI research and the aim is to become a top location, said Czyborra. In this respect, one should not let the development pass by.
(tiw)
