As a researcher, I have seen firsthand the challenges that lecturers in developing countries face when it comes to curbing plagiarism in students’ essays and thesis submissions. Limited access to plagiarism detection software and a lack of resources makes it difficult for educators to address this problem. But, recently, I discovered a potential solution: ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI.

ChatGPT has the ability to generate written content on a wide range of topics, from scientific research to creative writing. This capability could be used as a tool to prevent plagiarism in students’ essays and thesis submissions. By having students use ChatGPT to generate their own written content, educators can ensure that the work submitted is original and not plagiarized.

But, the implementation of ChatGPT as a tool for preventing plagiarism is not without its challenges. Some may argue that by using AI-generated content, students will become too reliant on the technology and lose their critical thinking and creativity skills. However, I argue that by incorporating ChatGPT into the curriculum as a tool for scientific writing, just as SPSS is a tool for data analysis, students can learn how to use the technology effectively and ethically.

In addition, ChatGPT can also be used as an assistive tool for students who may struggle with writing. It can help them to improve their writing skills and to understand the scientific concepts better.

As a researcher, I have come to see the potential benefits of ChatGPT as a tool for preventing plagiarism in developing countries. It is my hope that educators in these countries will take notice of this technology and work towards incorporating it into their assessment methods. With ChatGPT, we can improve the quality of scientific writing and reduce the burden of plagiarism on lecturers.

Potential Challenges with Incorporating ChatGPT into Curriculum

However, there are also potential challenges that lecturers will face when using ChatGPT in the classroom. One issue is that ChatGPT may occasionally give incorrect responses, which could lead to students submitting work that is not entirely original or accurate.

To combat this, lecturers should teach students how to edit responses made by ChatGPT to remove any incorrect information and to add their own voice and perspective to their written work. This will not only improve the quality of the work submitted but also help students to develop their critical thinking and editing skills.

Another challenge that lecturers may face is that ChatGPT may struggle to produce engaging and scholarly work using recent scholarship. This is because the model is trained on a wide range of text and may not have access to the latest research in a specific field.

To overcome this, lecturers should teach students how to critically engage with the work generated by ChatGPT by critiquing, connecting, contrasting, comparing, and citing various independent literature obtained from journal articles or book chapters. This will help students to develop their research skills and to produce work that is both original and scholarly.

In conclusion, ChatGPT has the potential to be a valuable tool for preventing plagiarism in developing countries. However, lecturers will need to be aware of the challenges that come with using this technology and should work to incorporate it into their assessment methods in a responsible and ethical manner. By teaching students how to use ChatGPT effectively and to critically engage with the work generated by the model, we can improve the quality of scientific writing and reduce the burden of plagiarism on lecturers.