Top Hong Kong university drops ban on ChatGPT in coursework by students

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has dropped its ban on students using Chat GPT, announcing that it would provide generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to both students and teaching staff in the coming academic year.

HKU AI Chatgpt — The University of Hong Kong offered to provide AI-generated tools to its students and staff for free. Photo: Supplied.

“We do not wish to police students’ use of AI applications, interrogating them about the proportion of AI-generated content in their assignments,” HKU Associate Vice-President Pauline Chiu said in Cantonese at a press conference on Thursday.

Describing ChatGPT as not “a perfect tool,” Chiu said she had asked students to point out the flaws in its answer to a chemistry question as part of the course assessment.

“Students need to be trained on their critical thinking ability in order to distinguish if the reply from ChatGPT is accurate,” the scholar added.

Unlike the other ChatGPT users in the city, HKU students will be able to use the AI application every month without the need to enable a VPN. Each student will be given a quota of up to 20 prompts every month, along with the access to image generator Dall-E.

However, students will have to declare their use of AI as they submit coursework.

HKU has received HK$15.7 million in funding from the University Grants Commission which will be used to enhance generative AI technology use in various disciplines, a university statement said.

The university has published leaflets for teaching staff on the use of AI in course assessments, while providing on-campus and online technical support to its members, according to Cecilia Chan, the director of HKU Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre.

“We prefer to integrate AI into our curriculum instead of eschewing it… we hope our students can be ready for the future,” Chan added.

Students’ performance will be graded through multiple assessments, including a device-free examination, an oral examination, and a presentation.

Ms Flora Ng HKU AI Chatgpt — HKU Chief Information Officer Flora Ng on August 3, 2023. Photo: Supplied.

HKU Chief Information Officer Flora Ng said the university had ensured that exchanges between students and the AI generative tool would be private, and it would not impose any customised filter on the response created by ChatGPT.

In February, HKU became the first university in the city to introduce an interim policy that treated the unauthorised use of AI by students in coursework as plagiarism. Only teaching staff were given permission to use AI tools.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Education University of Hong Kong, on the other hand, granted “limited approval” to students’ use of AI tools in March.

AI access in Hong Kong

Hong Kong users have so far been blocked from directly accessing ChatGPT along with other AI tools such as Google’s Bard. The tech companies have not given any formal explanation for this policy.

Hong Kong’s technology chief Sun Dong, told reporters in May that ChatGPT’s developer OpenAI had not given the city access due to privacy concerns, adding that the government would respect the company’s policy.

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