Blackman: ChatGPT And Law School Exams

Following up on my previous post, The Implications Of OpenAI’s Assistant For Legal Services And Society:  Josh Blackman (South Texas; Google Scholar), Plagiarism and ChatGPT:

ChatGPT ... uses sophisticated technology to generate answers to questions. These responses are written in plain English, that are easy to understand, and incorporate information from a massive neural network. These responses are not perfect, but may pass muster with professors who are short on time. The temptation for cheating is real. And one professor in South Carolina caught plagiarism. He wrote about it on Facebook, and the New York Post followed up.

This technology should strike fear in all academics.

ChatGPT does not work like TurnItIn, and other plagiarism detection software. The software generates new answers on the fly. And each time you run the app, a different answer will be spit out. There is no word-for-word plagiarism, or poor paraphrasing. Each answer is unique. And ChatGPT is constantly evolving. It gets smarter as more people use the system, and the neural network grows. The system was only launched three weeks ago. By May, the system will be far more sophisticated, as it incorporates everything that comes before. Like the Borg, students will assimilate; resistance is futile. ...

In the near term, all students should receive a stern talking-to about these tools. In the long run, courts may start dealing with briefs written by ChatGTP. Judgment day is coming.

Update:  A Guest Post on Plagiarism and ChatGPT (written by ChatGPT from this prompt: "Write a post about plagiarism and ChatGPT in the voice of Professor Josh Blackman)

• Bloomberg, Anti-Cheating Education Software Braces for AI Chatbots
• CNN, 'Flood of Cheating': Expert Warns New Tool Will Bbe a Game Changer for Cheaters
• New York Post, Professor Catches Student Cheating With ChatGPT: ‘I Feel Abject Terror’
• Washington Post, Teachers Are on Alert for Inevitable Cheating After Release of ChatGPT

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• A Human Being Wrote This Law Review Article: GPT-3 And The Practice Of Law (May 11, 2022)
• The Implications Of OpenAI’s Assistant For Legal Services And Society (Dec. 7, 2022)
• ChatGPT And Law School Exams (Dec. 29, 2022)
• GPT Will Soon Be Able To Pass The Multistate Bar Exam (Jan. 5, 2023)
• Using ChatGPT To Write Law School Exams, Bar Exams, And Strategic Plans (Jan. 11, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets B|B- Grade On Wharton MBA Exam (Jan. 24, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets C+ Grade On Four Minnesota Law School Exams (C- In Tax) (Jan. 24, 2023)
• The Rise Of The Robotic Tax Analyst (Jan. 27, 2023)
• Ryznar: Exams In The Time Of ChatGPT (Feb. 1, 2023)
• Bishop Posts Two Papers On ChatGPT (Feb. 8, 2023)
• ChatGPT Almost Passed The Bar, But Competent Lawyers Do Much More (Feb. 23, 2023)
• It’s Not Just Our Students: ChatGPT Is Coming For Faculty Scholarship (Feb. 25, 2023)
• New AI Detector Is 97% Effective In Catching Students Cheating With ChatGPT (Feb. 28, 2023)
• It’s Not Just Our Students: ChatGPT Is Coming For Faculty Scholarship (Feb. 25, 2023)
• ChatGPT's Tax Advice Was Wrong 100% Of The Time (Mar. 7, 2023)
• Does ChatGPT Produce Fishy Briefs? (Mar. 8, 2023)
• Colleges (And Law Schools) Are Rushing To Respond To ChatGPT (Mar. 9, 2023)
• Was The Sermon You Heard At Church Today Written By ChatGPT? (Mar. 12, 2023)
• GPT-4 Beats 90% Of Aspiring Lawyers On The Bar Exam (Mar. 17, 2023)
• ChatGPT Thinks I Am Way More Interesting Than I Am (Mar. 22, 2023)
• Should ChatGPT Be In Law School? (Mar. 30, 2023)
• Merritt: GPT-4 On Legal Education And Lawyer Licensing (Apr. 4, 2023)
• Turnitin Plagiarism Detector Will Catch Students Who Cheat With ChatGPT With 98% Accuracy (Apr. 5, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets 148 (37th Percentile) And 157 (70th Percentile) On The LSAT (Apr. 6, 2023)
• AI Tools for Lawyers: A Practical Guide (Apr. 6, 2023)