Software

Chatbots go to school and they get good grades: What it means for the Future

Science fiction movies like Blade Runner, back in the 1980s, suggested that one day robots would believe that they are the same as humans. When you think that the book that the film was based on actually dates back to 1966, we can say that half a century later, there is reason to wonder when the line will finally be blurred, as a ChatGPT just passed a MBA Exam at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. What does it mean, moving forward, for schools? 

What is the use of a Chatbot?

Today, chatbots are primarily used by companies, for their customer service, online. A chatbot can simulate a conversation, as it chats with a human. It enables customers to be responded to right away, as the chatbot can communicate with many customers at once. This technology has been available for a few years now, for commercial purposes, and most companies are acquiring one. You can click on this link to learn more about the chatbot ChatGPT.

How did the ChatbotGPT do on the MBA Exam?

You could say that chatbots are only in their childhood days, still. This technology is rather new, and there will be plenty of improvement in the coming years. Yet, it was offered the possibility to pass the final exam that students take, when they try to complete the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, at Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). And although it did show that the chatbot still has a way to go to get to the top of the class, its results were nevertheless graded as a B/B-, which is sufficient to pass the exam.

The Professor in charge of the test, Christian Terwiesch, said hat he was impressed by the general “workers knowledge” that the chatbot had, especially when you compare it to graduate students working as analysts, managers and consultants. Even when it had to do case studies, the bot did an amazing job, when it came to basic operations management and process analysis questions, which was somewhat of a surprise for the University teacher doing the study on the ChatbotGPT. 

How will it affect Students?

The real issue that schools face these days, is how to deal with chatbots when it comes to students essays. The two main questions are: “Should chatbot be banned?” And also “How will students learn if they use chatbots?” 

If we look back at the arrival of the Internet and how it changed the lives of people (especially younger ones), we can only imagine that students will become lazier in their learning process. Today, most kids don’t accumulate knowledge inside themselves, knowing full well that they can find the information, at any time they want, by simply looking for it online. But is this necessarily a bad thing, or is it just life improvement? These are societal issues, that will need to be study by other University professors, working in the field of sociology, philosophy and psychology, to name a few fields that will need to review the effects of chatbots on humans.

For now, we can only look at the performance of the ChatbotGPT and be amazed at how much the technology has managed to evolve, in half a century. We have moved on from what was considered to be science fiction, to making it true into the real world. Judging by previous books by Jules Verne as well, we can only marvel at the creativity of the human brain. But will it even be needed anymore when the chatbotGPT reaches full capacity and gets an “A” on his MBA test? At least, for now, this question is for another day.