As with many aspects of modern life, ChatGPT has made major disruptions in education, particularly high school English. During those critical years when students are finding their voice, forming their positions on issues, and honing their reasoning, they now have access to a powerful program that will do all the work for them.
While it’s true that students could always try to plagiarize or “get extra help” from a friend, it was easy enough to spot these instances — or, if not, software like Turnitin would usually catch it. Large language models like ChatGPT can not only generate original content but also tailor it to reflect a particular style, so it’s nearly impossible to detect whether it’s being used.
This is already creating a major headache for the College Board, the testing company responsible for creating and administering the SAT and AP exams. This past year, scorers of essay submissions for the AP Research and Seminar exams had to make a judgment call on whether to accept the essay — usually if the AI-generated content exceeded a certain percentage of the total content. This problem will only worsen as more students rely on AI for everything from helping with proofreading to writing whole essays.
Even for exams where students are asked to write timed essays, like in English Language and Composition (which I teach and score) and English Literature and Composition, ChatGPT is also posing serious challenges. Because these exams are currently transitioning from paper to the computer, teachers
