“I use ChatGPT practically every day,” says Javier Cardama, a Computer Science PhD student who has been using Generative AI since its launch in November last year. He helps you write texts, summarize articles, write emails and, above all, program.
We ask you to give us a demonstration and, with a click, the instructions for creating a graphical application appear on your computer. “You see how he has created a fairly large code scheme. “It took five seconds, which would have taken me an hour or more.” But it is not a magic wand. The knowledge of this university researcher is essential to achieve a good result: he knows what to ask and has the ability to assess whether the answer is correct or not.
Create images, text, or music.
This course has started with Generative AI installed on millions of computers. Unlike conventional artificial intelligence that, for years, has been present in cars, mobile phones, or household appliances, the Generative AI is able to create new content, such as images, text, or music, through a simple chat.
“ Suddenly you could ask him about anything and he would generate answers with incredible quality and coherence ”
“When ChatGPT came out I was shocked and I have been working on models of this type for thirty years,” confesses Paolo Gamallo, computational linguist. “Suddenly you could ask it about anything and it would generate answers with incredible quality and coherence.”
Nerea Luis, Professor in Artificial Intelligence , explains that it can be applied in any discipline from law, history, journalism to biology or medicine. “What we do is give it an input text that we call a prompt and based on that we interact. “It’s like expert hats.”
Almost impossible to detect its use
The networks have been flooded with tutorials that explain how to do class work or even a thesis. Although the Generative AI still has many flaws, it is practically impossible to detect whether the work was done by a person or a machine. We asked Javier Cardama if he could write a thesis. “Probably not an entire thesis, but it could be a very good tool to speed up a lot of work.”
“ If I ask things that an artificial intelligence can answer, I am making a mistake; we have to go more to the interpretation “
Programs like Turnitin, which until now detected plagiarism , are becoming outdated, something that worries some teachers and is rethinking the way they teach and evaluate . More and more people are opting for oral exams. “If I ask a student for a job that the GPT Chat can do, the job is poorly planned. The same as the exams. If I ask things that an artificial intelligence can answer, I am making a mistake. I think that we have to go more to interpretation , to works and questions that involve the person more and that therefore involve human intelligence,” says Berta García, professor in Communication Sciences.
at the University of Santiago de Compostela , is along the same lines. Senén Barro, Professor of Computer Science “Can you write an entire thesis? Yes you can, of course, but not a good thesis. The work of a doctoral thesis takes years. And, on the other hand, whoever evaluates this work has the responsibility of going much further than simply reading a few pages, no matter how many they may be. And it is to debate with the doctoral candidate, give him ideas, ask him why he has done what, how he has reached such a result… That is the way to show if that person has done his job and has done it well.
Limits and risks of AI
Senén Barro is clear that these tools are here to stay. “They have to be in your education and more and more, because they are going to be in your professions,” he insists to his students. In class, with engineering and technology university students, Barro encourages everyone to share how and why they use this newborn technology. He also asks them to explain the limits and risks they have detected.
“ I ask you to tell me the key concepts I should know for the exam and the questions I might get. ”
Carla Pereira, a Computer Engineering Degree student, uses ChatGPT as a virtual tutor, “especially to learn a new programming language. exam For example, I tell you that I have a Python . I ask him to tell me the key concepts I should know and questions I might have. I tell him there are ten multiple choice questions.” In a matter of seconds a table with concepts and questions appears on her screen. “In this case they are very simple, so I ask them to be more complex. I can also tell you to tell me the answers.”
His partner, Raúl , uses him to design web pages: “he explains to me how to build it.” But not everything is praise . When Barro asks if he is infallible and if the answers are always correct, everyone agrees that they are not.
ChatGPT and similar platforms like Bing or Google’s AI still make mistakes. But with an unbridled race among big technology companies, updates and new applications appear every day capable of giving professional-level results.
Office automation programs with integrated Generative AI
David Hurtado, head of innovation at Microsoft in Spain, tells us that they are working on simplifying the software as much as possible. For example, eliminating complicated menus so that it is the user who tells the machine, through a chat, what to do, whether it is a spreadsheet or a presentation with images
“ I can ask in conversation mode that it be more visual, that it include animations, that the images be from the internet or created from scratch ”
They have just announced that this fall they will be deploying Microsoft Copilot, their classic office suite, but with integrated Generative AI. “For example, if I have to present a paper with my class notes that I have in a text document, I tell him: give me a presentation. and from there he not only gives me the content based on my notes, but he manages the PowerPoint for me. I can ask in conversation mode that it be more visual, that it include animations, that the images be from the internet or created from scratch. That is, he manages the software for me .”
At the TAI university school in Madrid, Patricia Llaque, a specialist in artificial intelligence, teaches her students to create images with words. She uses tools like Midjourney and Dall-E. All of her students agree that knowing how to use these tools is a competitive advantage.
The Generative AI, at the service of education
“My expectation is to know how I can integrate Artificial Intelligence into my profession, and how it can help me to offer differential value,” says Micaela Lipowicz. She is a graphic designer and her class project involves creating a marketing plan from scratch.
