Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Tan Wu Meng, Jurong GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT are expected to affect student coursework and open-book assessments and, if so, how; (b) what challenges and opportunities exist in the educational and skills landscape due to the rise of such AI; and (c) what is being done to inculcate life skills, soft skills, and other competencies so that human workers can remain competitive and relevant amidst a landscape encompassing international competition and AI advancements.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Wan Rizal, Jalan Besar GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there are cases of cheating among students in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning in relation to the artificial intelligence chatbot Chat GPT; and (b) what measures are put in place to detect plagiarism.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Sembawang GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry is studying the trend of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology among international student bodies to cheat in exams and assignments; (b) whether similar instances have happened locally;
(c) how does the Ministry plan to address this issue in Singapore's education system; and (d) how will the Ministry guide educators to harness the use of AI to enhance learning while ensuring that students do not misuse AI technology for cheating or any other unethical behaviour.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Shahira Abdullah, Nominated Member of Parliament
Question
To ask the Minister for Education what are schools doing to prevent potential abuses of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots such as ChatGPT.
Response
1. Members have asked how MOE plans to address the use of ChatGPT and similar AI technologies in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), and in particular, how MOE will prevent students from misusing ChatGPT. As with any technology, ChatGPT and similar generative AI tools present both opportunities and challenges to users.
2. These technologies are in our midst and will become pervasive over time. Therefore, MOE provides educators in schools and IHLs with guidance and resources to effectively harness it to enhance learning. There are also professional discussion groups amongst our educators to explore its use in the education setting.
3. At the same time, our educators will still teach students to understand fundamental concepts and guide students against developing an over-reliance on technological tools.
4. For example, just like how a calculator supports students' capacity for learning Mathematics but does not replace the need for them to first master basic mathematical operations, ChatGPT can be a useful tool for learning only when students have mastered basic concepts and thinking skills. In a more uncertain world, we must also teach students to embrace and learn to work with tools in the new normal that have a range of outcomes. This would extend to AI tools that will increase in pervasiveness and may not provide deterministic answers.
5. Our educators will also help students understand how AI tools like ChatGPT work. As ChatGPT can provide inaccurate or biased output, students need to be discerning and critically assess its output for accuracy and objectivity.
6. Schools and IHLs adopt a range of practices to guard against misuse of this technology. In their daily work, students are taught the importance of integrity and the harmful impact and consequences of plagiarism. In addition, teachers use multiple modes of assessment to gauge students' proficiency and detect uncharacteristic responses that could be AI-generated content.
7. Our IHLs have varied modes of assessment including examinations, presentations, and projects that require analysis, field notes and observational details that cannot be generated easily by AI technology. A wide variety of strategies are adopted to detect plagiarism in assignments, including technological tools to detect content generated by AI technology. These approaches will necessarily evolve over time.
8. Our schools equip students with important skills such as assimilating concepts and applying them to new and dynamic situations, self-directed and collaborative learning, inventive thinking, relationship management and cross-cultural skills. These skills are not easily replaced by technological tools, and acquired through leadership roles, interdisciplinary project work, and various forms of experiential learning. I must emphasise this: in this new world, the critical skills for our students to acquire are how to discover, distil, and discern. And if possible, for them to develop something new in the process.
9. All these efforts are sustained as students enter our IHLs, where the curriculum has also been enhanced to help students develop baseline digital competencies, as well as LifeSkills to better navigate work and adulthood. Our schools and IHLs will continue to equip students with digital competencies and values to enable them to harness technology confidently and responsibly.