ChatGPT is the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that took the tech world by storm. And we’re not done talking about it or learning what it can do. The most recent ChatGPT feats consist of passing law and business school exams. Although ChatGPT is still just an average student with a lot to learn before becoming a straight-A student, this is obviously an astounding development.
The bot scared Google to the point where the internet search giant has shifted resources to have ChatGPT-like products ready for a spring demo.
Not only that, but Google’s founders are back to help with these efforts, as ChatGPT could become a massive threat to Google Search. Of note, Google is already starting to show off AI solutions of its own, like the new Google AI that can generate music from text. But online search is Google’s bread and butter. That’s how it makes billions of dollars from ads.
ChatGPT isn’t a reliable Google Search replacement right now, just as it’s not a straight-A student. But the AI tool is showing progress.
Professors at the University of Minnesota Law School tested ChatGPT on exams from four courses. The bot had to complete 95 multiple-choice questions and 12 essay questions. ChatGPT performed on average at the level of a C+ student. It achieved a “low but passing grade in all four courses,” the professors wrote in a study called ChatGPT Goes to Law School.
Similarly, professors at Wharton tested ChatGPT with a business management course exam. The chatbot scored better on this exam, getting a B grade.
Wharton business professor Christian Terwiesch said ChatGPT did “an amazing job” dealing with basic operations management and process-analysis questions. But it struggled with more advanced ones and made surprising math mistakes. Wharton has a paper on the experiment: Would Chat GPT3 Get a Wharton MBA?
The emergence of ChatGPT made some schools ban the chatbot. Public schools in New York City and Seattle have already banned it, per CNN. Students and teachers can’t use ChatGPT on school networks or devices.
The worry is that ChatGPT could offer students new ways to cheat on exams and papers. The law and business school test experiments show that ChatGPT has what it takes to pass exams with average grades or better.
But the chatbot could be helpful to students outside of exams, too. “ChatGPT struggled with the most classic components of law school exams, such as spotting potential legal issues and deep analysis applying legal rules to the facts of a case,” Jon Choi told CNN. “But ChatGPT could be very helpful at producing a first draft that a student could then refine.”
Choi is a professor at the University of Minnesota. He also argued that human-AI collaboration might become the norm in the future of law. Of note, ChatGPT can already write legislation.
Terwiesch told CNN that the chatbot was “remarkably good” at modifying its answers as it reacted to human hints. This indicates ChatGPT could assist humans in various ways, aside from just during exams. The professor said bans are needed to ensure students can’t access the bot during exams. But Terwiesch acknowledged that there’s a place for ChatGPT in the classroom of the future.
