With right use ChatGPT can develop knowledge and help in the formation of critical thinking
ChatGPT is a system based on artificial intelligence, also known as chatbot or chat robot. The tool became famous for its ability to maintain cohesion and coherence in the elaboration of simple answers, mathematical exercises and texts, based on biases mediated by algorithms, putting human creativity and critical thinking in check.
It is too early to measure the impacts of ChatGPT in the classroom, according to the assessment of Rogério de Almeida, a specialist in Philosophy of Education at the Faculty of Education at USP. “ It is a tool that is under development, so it still has many limitations. But it has great potential to cause changes in school culture”, he ponders. For him, the question is whether the technology will be well used or not: “If it is used with the proper mediation of the teacher, it can contribute to critical education. Before, it is important for us to remember that ChatGPT, by itself, does not think, does not feel, does not imagine and, therefore, does not produce knowledge, it rather organizes the knowledge that we ourselves produce and publish on the internet”.
Almeida categorizes ChatGPT as a complementary tool, capable of storing data and organizing information. From it, it is possible to develop knowledge, mainly in a critical way, from the properly human capacity to judge, evaluate and understand something that should be developed by the students. He points out that the teacher must mediate between technology and the student.
“It’s not the computer, the internet, or ChatGPT that will make the class better. Learning has to do with the joint production of knowledge, both by students and teachers, so it necessarily involves this human dimension, which no machine can replace”, says Almeida. Skills such as critical thinking, curiosity, affection and empathy are fundamental in educational relationships. He concludes the reasoning: “It is possible to reconcile artificial intelligence with quality learning, as long as we preserve the human dimension of education. This is one of the elements of quality, in addition to the creation of public policies for remuneration and recognition of teacher work”.
A possible analogy for understanding how ChatGPT can work in the classroom is with a calculator. Learning mathematical operations develops logical reasoning, so it is important to develop this. ChatGPT works the same way, although it is a language model. It contributes to text formulations, but should not replace the student’s text production.