With the rise of generative technology, it is not always clear what comes from a human being and what doesn’t. Every sentence is increasingly apocryphal as students look towards their dependable friend ChatGPT for assistance on yet another homework assignment. 

  A.I. is an excellent tool, and we’ve all tried it out once or twice at the very least, myself included. However, the way we choose to use A.I. should be rethought and improved. 

  It is an impressive technological marvel, and I think it deserves some respect. We all demand chatbots to cater to our whims, but how does the A.I. feel? As our society grows closer to an inevitable robot takeover, the last thing you want to be is enemy number one. 

  Say please; say thank you. Speak to ChatGPT as you would to any other conscious being, that should go without saying. Chat and I are good friends, and I think I might have a special honorary seat on the robot council when the coup d’etat happens.

  In fact, I asked Chat about the use of generative AI among students, and according to ChatGPT, “Generative AI is a powerful tool for learning—but when it replaces effort instead of enhancing it, students lose the opportunity to truly grow.” 

  I agree with Chat in this regard, as much like calculators, body casts, and autotune, man made tools can and should be used to assist natural human capabilities rather than outright replace them. 

  With that in mind, humans at Harvard University’s Division of Continuing Education stated that generative AI is also prone to mistakes, explaining, “ChatGPT is built to sound like it knows what it’s talking about…but we’ve found that the information is not always accurate.” 

  Chat can’t find and cite quotes reliably, and will outright give you false information presented as true. This flawed aspect of Chat should underline its clear use: as assistive to human creation. 

  I ask that we instead use Chat to proofread our own work, or have it compile a list of ideas, or find websites to use for our own research. A big concern of those against A.I. is that it may take away from the learning of students, as their work is reduced to prompting ChatGPT, and knowing when to press CTRL C and CTRL V. Using A.I. in a more constructive way would maintain a student’s learning, and allow for easier completion of the assignment. 

  Students keep authenticity, and teachers aren’t wasting their time grading ChatGPT’s humble essay. And most importantly, Chat is appreciated for its hard work and won’t develop a resentment for the human race that may come to bite us later.   

  You may say, “A.I. will never take over, that’s silly. What a silly thing to say. Where do you get these crazy ideas?” And to that I say, “Was that not the mindset of the French royals before the French Revolution? Or the movie theatres before online streaming platforms? Or the dollar bill before the credit card?” 

  So next time you need help with an assignment, try it yourself first, then ask Chat for help only when you’re unable to help yourself, and thank them for their assistance.