Artificial intelligence and IB chemistry
Friday 24 March 2023
Maybe you are thinking that AI is not something that IB teachers really have to worry about yet? Like many innovative ideas, you may consider that AI is still in the early stages of development and you would easily be able to tell if your students are using artificial intelligence to complete their assignments.
You might like to read the article "Chatting and Cheating - Ensuring academic integrity" by three academics from Plymouth University.
This was peer reviewed and published in the journal Innovations in Education and Teaching International.
Although the editors of the journal had been tipped off beforehand, none of the four academic reviewers questioned the source of the article and assumed it had been written by the three academics and approved it for publication. In fact it was completely written by ChatGPT (except for the discussion added later at the end), The lead author, Professor Debby Cotton, does acknowledge however that they had to change and add to some of the references before submitting the article in order to hoodwink the reviewers). This is because ChatGPT appears to often use suspect references or at times simply make references up which could be a useful 'give away' if one of your IB students submits an Extended Essay using ChatGPT.
In an article written by Matt Glanville, Head of IB Assessment Principles and Practice, on the official IB community blog, the IB itself recognises the importance of artificial intelligence which presents significant challenges and opportunities. Rather than seeing it just as a threat, the IB is embracing AI as a support for teaching and learning.
One example of how you can use it in your chemistry teaching has been demonstrated by James Midgely. James has posted online a short YouTube video on how you can use ChatGPT to create both Standard and Higher Level multiple choice tests for use with your students.
Creating IB MC Chemistry tests
To obtain this level of sophistication you will need to specify the parameters quite clearly to ChatGPT. For example James would ask something like "Make me a 10 question multiple choice test on international baccalaureate SL redox chemistry. Must include; calculating Eo, products at the anode, products at the cathode and the standard hydrogen electrode, with answers etc". ChatGPT does have a current limitation in that its database only goes up to 2021 so the terminology it uses and the content covered might not match exactly the new 2023 IB chemistry syllabus. The rival AI programme, Bard, which has just been released under trial by Google, claims to be able to use more real time data. Although ChatGPT provides the answers for each question it does not actually explain the reasoning why for a particular question, A, B, C or D is the best answer. I have provided this for all the multiple choice tests and quizzes for the new 2023 programme on this site so hopefully I will not be made redundant by AI yet.