ChatGPT – cheating machine or opportunity?

ChatGPT is the talk of the town at the moment – because the chatbot can compose complete, complex texts with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Is this a turning point for university teaching? Many students could use ChatGPT to create seminar papers at the touch of a button – or so the fear goes. Nevertheless, political scientist and economist Robert Lepenies would not place anyone under general suspicion, because young people want to learn! Rather, he says, ChatGPT could revolutionize the way students interact with course materials and instructors. For example, it can answer individual questions, even with large lecture groups. But it requires a balanced approach that combines technology and human interaction, he said. Teachers should guide the learning process and encourage critical thinking.

Robert Lepenies, born in 1984, is Professor of Plural and Heterodox Economics at Karlshochschule International University in Karlsruhe. He has been university president there since 2022, making him one of the youngest to hold this office in Germany.

As part of the International Science Festival – Geist Heidelberg