Cited by 550Artificial Intelligence in EducationAcademic integrity and plagiarismArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 59 of the 63 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 23 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Leadership is needed for ethical ChatGPT: Character, assessment, and learning using artificial intelligence (AI)

Open access
Crawford, Joseph, Cowling, Michael, Allen, Kelly-Ann·2023·Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice

Abstract

The OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer was released in November 2022 without significant warning, and has taken higher education by storm since. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot has caused alarm for practitioners seeking to detect authenticity of student work. Whereas some educational doomsayers predict the end of education in its current form, we propose an alternate early view. We identify in this commentary a position where educators can leverage AI like ChatGPT to build supportive learning environments for students who have cultivated good character. Such students know how to use ChatGPT for good, and can engage effectively with the ChatGPT application. In building our ChatGPT argument, we acknowledge the existing literature on plagiarism and academic integrity, and consider leadership as a root support mechanism, character development as an antidote, and authentic assessment as an enabler. In doing so, we highlight that while ChatGPT – like papermills, and degree factories before it – can be used to cheat on university exams, it can also be used to support deeper learning and better learning outcomes for students. In doing so, we offer a commentary that offers opportunities for practitioners, and research potential for scholars.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This commentary argues that higher education should respond to ChatGPT not only with detection or bans, but with teacher leadership, character development, and authentic assessment to support ethical and deeper learning. It proposes that ChatGPT can support flow, basic psychological needs, and formative feedback, while acknowledging risks of plagiarism and overreliance.

Key findings

  • The authors argue that effective teacher leadership and character development are needed so students use ChatGPT “for good, rather than for personal benefit,” rather than relying solely on detection or punishment.
  • They propose ChatGPT can support positive learning outcomes by reducing cognitive load and enabling flow, supporting autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and providing 24/7 formative feedback and confidence-building.
  • They argue ChatGPT can enable authentic assessment—for example, applying theory to complex cases, storyboards, or podcasts—rather than assessments that ask students to regurgitate textbook content.
  • The paper cites contextual numbers: ChatGPT reached 100 million users in less than 2 months; student cheating admissions rose from 3% in 1963 to 64% in 2015; human reviewers correctly identified 68% of ChatGPT-generated abstracts and 86% of genuine abstracts; and one professor reported 14 of 163 students caught using ChatGPT to cheat.

Methods

  • Design: a commentary/position paper guided by the research question, “What are the opportunities of ChatGPT in higher education practice?”
  • Data or sample: no empirical sample; the authors draw on existing literature and on ChatGPT-generated responses to prompts, which are quoted as indented italicised paragraphs.
  • Main analysis: conceptual argument organised around four opportunities—character-based leadership, flow, basic psychological needs, and ChatGPT as student assistant—plus discussion of authentic assessment.

Limitations

  • The paper states that it offers an “early view” and that peer-reviewed literature on ChatGPT is limited, with few quality studies in top-tier journals at the time.
  • The paper acknowledges that ChatGPT outputs are not actually ChatGPT’s opinion but “a confluence of societal opinion from its last knowledge update,” and that the veracity of its output should always be questioned.
  • Evident from the text: this is a commentary without empirical data, sample, or systematic analysis; its claims about benefits rely on author propositions and ChatGPT self-assessment rather than tested outcomes.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.53761/1.20.3.02

Cites

59 of 59 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 23 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 8 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 66
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 21
71 of 71
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT can create new and innovative authentic assessment in higher education.

    “ChatGPT can create new and innovative authentic assessment in higher education.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In blind studies, human reviewers correctly identified 68% of ChatGPT generated abstracts and 86% of genuine abstracts, but incorrectly identified the rest.

    “Although, in the context of blind studies, human reviewers correctly identified 68 percent of ChatGPT generated abstracts and 86 percent of genuine abstracts, but incorrectly identified the rest.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT was introduced publicly from November 2022, with a stable release from February 2023.

    “the ChatGPT AI being introduced publicly from November 2022, and a stable release from February 2023.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT-3 was released in November 2022 without significant warning and has taken higher education by storm.

    “The OpenAI's ChatGPT-3, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer was released in November 2022 without significant warning, and has taken higher education by storm since.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Students will build the capacity to evaluate the value of the text and ensure that the final output is correct.

    “Assuming they build capacity to evaluate the value of the text and ensure that the final output is correct”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Many scholars have presented arguments against ChatGPT's utility in classrooms, citing plagiarism, authentication, and academic integrity as key concerns.

    “Many scholars to date have presented arguments against the tool's utility in classrooms, citing plagiarism, authentication, and academic integrity as key concerns.”
6 of 6

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Same article listed with different first authors

    Minor

    References 10 and 65 give the same title, journal, volume, issue, year, and pages, but disagree about the article's first author and author order.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

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Show all 63 references

4 of the 63 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. van Dis, E. A., Bollen, J., Zuidema, W., van Rooij, R., & Bockting, C. L. (2023). ChatGPT: five priorities for research. Nature, 614(7947), 224-226.

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Crawford, J., Cowling, M., & Allen, K.-A.
Affiliations
  • University of Tasmania (AU)
  • Central Queensland University (AU)
  • Monash University (AU)
Venue
Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice
Published
2023-04-02
Volume
20
Issue
3
ISSN
1449-9789 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4323536358
Cited by
547
References
63
Citations by year
2026: 74 · 2025: 157 · 2024: 214 · 2023: 102
FWCI
128.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice (publishedVersion)
  • Monash University Research Portal (Monash University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Social Sciences › Education › Academic integrity and plagiarism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Keywords
ChatGPT, generative AI in higher education, academic integrity, plagiarism, character development, educational leadership, authentic assessment, student learning, AI chatbots, deep learning

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