EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — In two weeks, the campus of East Stroudsburg University will be packed with students getting ready for the school year.
But before classes can start, the university wants to ensure those students know what's expected of them when using Artificial intelligence and ChatGPT.
The technology is something some students are already familiar with.
"I like the videos, the songs, and stuff. They make random covers and everything. They'll do SpongeBob and Patrick like that. I think it's funny," said senior Aidan Hayward.
"I personally never used it, but I know some kids use it for school. Some kids use it for other reasons. I personally never used it. I don't know too much about it," said sophomore Charlie McKee.
Officials at ESU say they aren't concerned with AI but are interested in how it is changing education.
Margaret Ball, the university provost and vice president of academic affairs, says it will be up to each professor to determine if they want students to use the technology.
"I think it is really important for students to learn how to use it, to be truthful about when they are using it. They ask their professor for help. Is this an appropriate place to be using this, or is this something I need to be doing on my own," said Ball.
The university has an originality check program for papers submitted online to deter students from plagiarizing or using AI for the wrong reasons.
Professors can use this system to identify if a paper was copied from the internet, by a former student, or written by AI.
"In those submitted originality checks, it also has a tab that you can open up and see its best guesstimate at how much of that paper was generated by AI or ChatGPT," said Devin Feighan.
"Plagiarism isn't new, so this is just a new level, but I think it's really important to realize it is not all bad," Ball added. "There's a lot of great creative potential with these tools."
While university officials hope students use AI as a research tool, they say there will be academic consequences for anyone who abuses it.