Unclear Rules for ChatGPT in Universities

With AI, texts can be generated in a short time. Whether students are allowed to use the programs is not uniformly regulated. Often the decision depends on the teaching staff, like a BR– Poll shows.

By Julia Barthel and Rebecca Ciesielski, BR

Universities estimate at least 300 hours or the equivalent of almost two months full-time work for the preparation of a bachelor thesis. Could the long-awaited university degree be achieved faster and with less effort in the future with the help of artificial intelligence (AI)?

To find out, a team from BR carried out an experiment: In just three days, reporter Nadine Hadad was to write a 40-page bachelor thesis using the text generation programs ChatGPT and Bing.

“Thesis Challenge”

In the US, AI programs that generate text are said to have already passed college entrance exams, law school exams, and medical exams. German universities are also preparing for far-reaching changes: “We expect that in the medium term, many of the problems currently being solved by students will be able to be dealt with equally or better by artificial intelligence,” says RWTH Aachen University BR-Inquiry.

The use of this AI is particularly “a challenge for non-supervised examination formats such as term papers or theses”.

Universities are struggling to come up with guidelines

A team of BR conducted a survey among the largest German universities. Ten universities have commented on the use of AI by students. Generative text programs like ChatGPT are currently an important topic at all universities. Some universities have so far lacked clear guidelines, many leave the decision about the use of AI to the teachers.

“It is currently still being discussed whether AI systems are illegal tools,” says the Free University of Berlin. If so, their use would be considered an attempt to deceive. “Only the faculties can make sense of such rules for their disciplines, subjects and courses,” is the assessment of the University of Hamburg.

According to the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in some cases it is appropriate to prohibit the use of tools such as ChatGPT, in others not. Several universities agreed with this assessment.

Cologne and Münster ban AI for texts

Almost all institutions stated that they are currently working on binding rules. Only two universities replied that they had decided on a general ban: According to the University of Cologne, an AI-generated text “does not meet the criterion of independence”.

AI tools are therefore an illegal aid and each use can be sanctioned differently depending on the severity of the case, “from issuing a warning to withdrawing the right to take an examination”. The University of Münster also evaluates the writing of texts with AI as a “violation of the law”.

students insecure

Student representative Karl Seyfarth from the LMU Munich criticizes the partly non-existent, partly unclear rules for AI-written texts: “I have the feeling that our university is a bit overwhelmed with the topic. I would definitely like more guidelines.” The LMU states that they have already spoken to students. Since the needs of different subjects are very different, the faculties themselves decide how to use AI tools.

A current legal opinion commissioned by the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Culture and Science also calls for clear guidelines. Accordingly, universities should define when and under what conditions AI writing tools can be used by students.

Bachelor thesis in three days

But can AI programs help students at all? In the BR-Attempt, ChatGPT automatically generated an outline with various sub-items and then the contents of the chapters. Since ChatGPT mostly outputs fictitious sources, reporter Hadad also used the Microsoft search engine Bing in the test. They could easily access the Internet and search for publications there.

The overall impression is initially good, says Professor Markus Behmer, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Bamberg, after reviewing the work. In addition, the writing style is easy to read. “The structure is also very positive.” However, the work does not meet scientific criteria. The theories described and the data collection “actually have almost nothing to do with each other”.

ChatGPT also employs Bundestag

The entry of programs like ChatGPT at universities will not be stopped, but only well designed, says Green education politician Kai Gehring. Text-generating software can be an extremely useful tool in teaching, but good solutions and guidelines are needed in the area of ​​examinations.

A few weeks ago, the education committee of the Bundestag commissioned a study on the subject. The chairman of the education committee in the Bundestag does not want to anticipate their results: “I do believe, however, that we need a set of rules for artificial intelligence.” In a few weeks, the committee is to debate the results of the study together with experts.