The results of an educational survey showed that students and parents are replacing their human tutors with an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called ChatGPT.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful program that simulates computers and machines to think like humans. Defined by Investopedia as “the simulation of human intelligence by software-coded heuristics,” AI is prevalent in cloud-based, enterprise applications, as well as consumer apps and even embedded firmware.

What’s more, this technology is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world today as it has a forecasted annual average growth rate of 33.2% between 2020 and 2027. 

Currently, there are several available AI tools online, but one of the more popular ones is called ChatGPT by OpenAI. This is centered on a GPT-3.5 framework that allows it to understand and interpret human language and while its features have caused widespread fascination among users, it “represents only a small portion of the ways that AI technology is being used today.”

A Look at the Survey Results

As powerful as AI can be, 61% of Americans believe that it can threaten the future of humanity, as it can endanger several jobs. This statement holds true as a recent survey by intelligent.com shows that students and parents find ChatGPT more effective compared to hiring study tutors. 

About 85% of interviewed high school and college students who have tried both tutoring sessions and ChatGPT said that AI was a better study tool for them. Among the reasons why they said so is that it was “more relaxed”, “it has [a] better ability to correct mistakes”, and “it provides timely feedback.”

Meanwhile, the remaining percentage of the interviewed population said that traditional tutors are still better since they “communicate face-to-face”, “stimulate students’ interests”, “encourage”, and “build good teacher-student relationships” which are things that AI can’t do. 

Several parents agreed with the use of AI to tutor their children. With high confidence in ChatGPT, 39% of students and 30% of parents have completely replaced their tutoring sessions with this AI-powered platform.

Why Parents Think That ChatGPT is an Effective Study Tool 

“Students and their parents believe ChatGPT is a highly effective study tool that is more convenient and efficient than traditional tutoring, to the extent that many have actually replaced tutoring sessions in favor of ChatGPT,” says intelligent.com’s higher-education consultant Diane Gayeski. 

“Parents find ChatGPT to be an attractive tutor because it’s free, always available and answers questions quickly. It’s quite good at providing basic concepts and even practices questions on common topics such as algebra, geography, and foreign languages,” she added. 

In fact, survey results showed how 95% of the students who integrated ChatGPT into their study routine witnessed an improvement in their grades. This mostly applied to hard subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and biology. 

“This may be because these subjects tend to be technical and the concepts more difficult, and ChatGPT can present clear, distilled answers for these types of problems, which can help students grasp complex concepts…of course, assuming the student has enough background knowledge to give ChatGPT the right type of prompt,” explains Gayeski.

What This Means for the Future 

With reports from the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020” predicting that AI will replace 85 million jobs globally by 2025, the arrival of this newfound technology can threaten many jobs and in turn, the livelihood of many people.

However, that same notes that AI may create 97 million new roles, given that “machines are less likely to replace jobs requiring human skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and empathy in the near future.”

“As a foreign language tutor, I admit that at first I was concerned that I could be replaced by ChatGPT. Not only are its capabilities as a language learning tool remarkable, but it’s also available 24/7 and doesn’t charge by the hour,” explains tutor Carolyn Knight.

“However, as amazing as it is, it’s still only a tool, and students need more than just knowledge to learn. The bond between student and teacher, one of trust, encouragement, and bearing witness to the student’s learning journey, is in my opinion what promotes true learning and growth in a way that prompts and computer-generated responses just can’t,” she continues. 

As more people embrace the use of AI in education as well as other fields, experts believe that it is just a tool that humans might have to learn how to use properly. Indeed, it is by utilizing it properly and responsibly that natural human intelligence and AI power can work hand in hand to make learning easier, regardless of what industry a person might be in.