The pros and cons of using AI to grade students’ schoolwork

Bill Gates said that we are in the “Age of AI,” where artificial intelligence will change various industries, specifically healthcare and education. 

The latter is adapting to this technological advancement as more schools implement rules against AI usage in schoolwork. CNN reports that nowadays, teachers have taken it to the next level by checking essays with this technology.

READ: Teaching with ChatGPT

Unfortunately, AI grading seems to have unprecedented consequences that educators worldwide should understand. ChatGPT and similar tools are available in other countries, so they would likely see these impacts, too.

How does AI grading impact classrooms?

CNN spoke with Dorothy Leidner, a professor of business ethics at the University of Virginia, about AI grading classwork. 

She admits checking papers with artificial intelligence “might be even superior to human grading.”

Artificial intelligence would allow teachers to grade papers faster and more consistently while avoiding fatigue or boredom. 

The caveat is teachers must use it in a large class for a test with clear right and wrong answers. However, AI grading is inadvisable for smaller classes or assignments with fewer definitive answers.

Leidner believes teachers for these classes must personalize grading to provide feedback and guide a student’s performance over time.

“A teacher should be responsible for grading but can give some responsibility to the AI,” she said.

Leslie Layne, a University of Lynchburg teacher, has been teaching people how to use ChatGPT in her writing workshop. 

She told CNN it has advantages and disadvantages for teachers. “Using feedback that is not truly from me seems like it is shortchanging that relationship a little,” she said.

She was referring to the students’ expectation that the teacher, not a machine, would guide and provide feedback. 

Layne also believes uploading a student’s work to ChatGPT is a “huge ethical consideration.” The AI bot uses uploaded content to train, so it might breach students’ intellectual property rights. 

Also, college students writing their theses and dissertations should avoid sharing them with ChatGPT because they might want to publish their work.

CNN noted the long-term ethical ramifications of AI in education: “Parents and students who are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on tuition may wonder if an endless feedback loop of AI-generated and AI-graded content in college is worth the time and money.”

Nevertheless, we cannot predict artificial intelligence’s real future impact.