A Moral Panic: ChatGPT and the Gamification of Education
A Moral Panic: ChatGPT and the Gamification of Education
A Moral Panic: ChatGPT and the Gamification of Education
By Susan Kennedy
February 6, 2023
Summary
Following its release, a moral panic has set in about the impact ChatGPT will have on cheating in school.
Put another way, the misuse of ChatGPT by students is more like cheating at solitaire than it is like cheating at poker.
Instead of being treated as yet another way to cheat, the reaction to ChatGPT seems to be characterized by an unusually high level of fear, panic, and desperation, as if it were threatening the very existence of higher education.
Surprisingly, the panic over ChatGPT doesn't actually seem to be about ChatGPT. It's not all that impressive, nor is it significantly more effective than the "Old ways" of cheating.
If a student no longer values education for its own sake, then there would seem to be nothing to lose by using ChatGPT. They won't see it as cheating themselves out of an education, but merely an easy avenue for a passing grade in a course or completing a college degree.
Whether or not ChatGPT remains free and widely accessible, education is still confronted with a crisis.It is not the ability to cheat with ChatGPT that jeopardizes education, rather the increasing desire to cheat fueled by the gamification of education.
Reference
Kennedy, S. (2023, February 6). A moral panic: Chatgpt and the Gamification of Education. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://www.scu.edu/ethics-spotlight/generative-ai-ethics/a-moral-panic-chatgpt-and-the-gamification-of-education/