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> I think the toughest ethical situations arise when ChatGPT can give you a perfect answer to your homework problem. Is it unethical for a student to use ChatGP

> I think the toughest ethical situations arise when ChatGPT can give you a perfect answer to your homework problem. Is it unethical for a student to use ChatGPT in this case? Does superficially rewriting the answer to put it in your own words make it ethical? Is it appropriate for professors to give out A's to the students who cut and paste from GPT4, while giving lower grades to students who don't realize that such a tool is available, or who won't pay $20/month for the best homework tool? How are any of these tough ethical situations? The obvious answers are "yes", "no", and "that's moot." (Moot because the ethical onus is on the student, not the professor. It's not the professor's fault that the student is benefiting from unethical behavior.)

pixl97 3y ago
If everyone is doing it is a valid question if a behavior is unethical or not when viewed at society level. Eventually the actual answer becomes "homework doesn't work" at some point and new methodology of determining competency must be found.
- ghaff 3y ago
  People get assistance in homework/problem sets/take home tests using lots of different resources and tools. What’s allowed and not allowed varies based in the “rules” and common conventions.
- fragmede 3y ago
  Homework doesn't asses competency, it's practice. Testing tests for competency.
  - allturtles 3y ago
    GP's framing assumes that the homework is being graded to assess competency: "Is it appropriate for professors to give out A's..." If that's not the case, no ethical questions are involved in using Chat GPT to complete your homework, although it would seem to be a pointless exercise, since you are neither getting practice nor cheating the assessment mechanism.
lacker 3y ago
Well, let's take the first case in more detail. Is it unethical to talk to ChatGPT about your homework in the first place? I don't think that seems right. Many times it will just be a helpful advisor and you will really learn a lot from its responses. So, you ask ChatGPT about your homework question, and sometimes it turns out it just gives you the perfect answer. What now? You can't un-see the answer. If not even rewriting the answer makes it ethical, are you just trapped and there is no ethical way to handle this situation? You could conclude it's unethical to use ChatGPT for anything homework-related, that is at least consistent.
- allturtles 3y ago
  Let's consider the original framing: "You tell ChatGPT your homework question and ask what's the answer." You aren't asking for help with the homework in this framing, you're just asking for the answers so you don't have to actually do it. I don't think this scenario raises any new, difficult ethical questions; it's exactly equivalent to copying the homework of a friend.

pixl97 3y ago

If everyone is doing it is a valid question if a behavior is unethical or not when viewed at society level. Eventually the actual answer becomes "homework doesn't work" at some point and new methodology of determining competency must be found.

ghaff 3y ago
People get assistance in homework/problem sets/take home tests using lots of different resources and tools. What’s allowed and not allowed varies based in the “rules” and common conventions.
fragmede 3y ago
Homework doesn't asses competency, it's practice. Testing tests for competency.
- allturtles 3y ago
  GP's framing assumes that the homework is being graded to assess competency: "Is it appropriate for professors to give out A's..." If that's not the case, no ethical questions are involved in using Chat GPT to complete your homework, although it would seem to be a pointless exercise, since you are neither getting practice nor cheating the assessment mechanism.

lacker 3y ago

Well, let's take the first case in more detail. Is it unethical to talk to ChatGPT about your homework in the first place? I don't think that seems right. Many times it will just be a helpful advisor and you will really learn a lot from its responses. So, you ask ChatGPT about your homework question, and sometimes it turns out it just gives you the perfect answer. What now? You can't un-see the answer. If not even rewriting the answer makes it ethical, are you just trapped and there is no ethical way to handle this situation? You could conclude it's unethical to use ChatGPT for anything homework-related, that is at least consistent.

allturtles 3y ago
Let's consider the original framing: "You tell ChatGPT your homework question and ask what's the answer." You aren't asking for help with the homework in this framing, you're just asking for the answers so you don't have to actually do it. I don't think this scenario raises any new, difficult ethical questions; it's exactly equivalent to copying the homework of a friend.