Academic integrity proves to be in jeopardy with new technological advancements. With a few clicks of a mouse or swipes on a trackpad, students can gain access to ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence (AI) program that can write “original” papers.  This program differs from previous cheating software, because AI creates each essay to be one hundred percent unique and original, meaning plagiarism becomes harder to detect.

This software made by OpenAI was released in November of 2022, and by January 2023 teachers all around the country were already seeing problems with students utilizing it.

“I’ve seen lots of people using it to cheat. I wouldn’t use it though; I don’t like the idea of not turning in my own work,” said senior Aaron Vinh.

Students using ChatGPT already face backlash, with an application called “GPTZERO” which was created to detect written work created by ChatGPT 

“It’s the newest way to cheat, but there are already apps out to catch it too,” said Vinh.

Aside from getting caught cheating, students failing to learn the material causes concern. When students submit a paper that they did not write, they only cheat themselves. 

 “It’s going to be easy to tell just based on the words used. Your teachers know how you write, and they’ll know when it is not you,” said senior Dominik Wright.

 Part of writing a paper includes doing research, editing for hours and finally producing a work that the writer can take pride in. 

Administration has reiterated that even though this new technology may seem like the “ultimate cheating tool” for students, it could be used by teachers to help students improve their writing.

“This [AI] can also be a tool for our teachers. They can have their students edit and revise it, and teach them the difference between a human written paper and a computer,” said assistant principal Victoria DeSimone. 

There are also concerns that the academic integrity policy will have to change and adapt with new technology, but the school administration says they are not worried. 

“The policy is pretty clear. Cheating and plagiarism in any form are not tolerated, including an online resource,” said DeSimone. 

Overall, students realize that a program like ChatGPT will not be a long term solution for writing papers. 

“I think it [Chat GPT] is a good website, but it could really screw you over”, said senior Brett Lucht. “You could get away with it, but it’s still plagiarism though.”