Since November 2022, OpenAI’s GPT-3 has been freely available at no cost, sparking debate in the media and at universities. These so-called chatbots are able to use artificial intelligence to draw on a vast pool of data to provide answers to questions (also known as prompts ), some of which are almost indistinguishable from human responses. The speed and accuracy of the responses are often astonishing, although the answers are not always error-free or up to date.

This technology is not new, but its widespread use certainly is. This raises societal and ethical questions and has serious implications for the education system. What impact will this technology have on research and teaching at universities? What questions and problems arise, and how can lecturers and students use generative artificial intelligence (GAI) constructively and responsibly?

Recommendations from the University of Oldenburg

The Vice-President for Student Affairs, Teaching and International Relations, in consultation with the Department for Study Affairs and the extended Dean of Studies Committee, has drawn up recommendations on the use of GAI in student affairs and teaching. These can be found here.

Further information

The Higher Education Forum on Digitalisation provides a comprehensive, curated collection of links on the topic of ChatGPT in a higher education context, which is continuously updated. Here you will find the most important publications on the subject, as well as experience reports and blog posts on the topic of AI in higher education teaching.