While research on ChatGPT in the classroom is still in its infancy, interest in the topic is booming–academic references on Google Scholar have shot up from 8,000 to 30,000 since April 2023. It’s clear that this is something we all have questions about–and answers are starting to emerge.

Pros and cons of ChatGPT in the classroom

A literature review out of Bangalore University, India, used content analysis and conceptual analysis of user experiences to create a picture of what ChatGPT is and what its uses and limitations might be in education.

Pros:

1. ChatGPT could significantly boost student engagement.
2. It’s an “always on” source of support for students, which is especially helpful for remote learning, but the subscription option makes access inequitable.
3. It can adapt and tailor content to the needs and knowledge level of each student.
4. It can act as a teaching assistant, providing immediate answers to student questions.
5. It’s scalable and can support many students at the same time, making it cost-effective.

Cons:

1. As an AI, ChatGPT can’t understand context and will sometimes get the answer wrong.
2. ChatGPT relies on pre-existing data, which can sometimes lead to misinformation.
3. Unlike a human teacher, ChatGPT has no emotional intelligence and can’t understand or respond to a student’s emotional needs.
4. ChatGPT’s performance is only as good as its data. If it’s trained on biased or incomplete data, it can’t give accurate responses.
5. The use of ChatGPT raises ethical and data privacy concerns, especially where it’s used alongside assessment rubrics.

It will be vital to consider how teachers can integrate ChatGPT into teaching and learning–and how they can use it to automate routine tasks, freeing up their time to do more of the work only students can do.