Incredibly quickly, GenAI has become a widespread tool in the modern world. From ChatGPT to Microsoft Co-Pilot, there is no shortage of AI resources to help with everyday activities from assignments to budgets to lists. I have found AI, ChatGPT specifically, has been relatively helpful to me, in the short time that I have had access to it.
In relation to schooling, aside from the obvious fact that it would be academically dishonest to submit something written by ChatGPT as my own, there are other reasons why I would never do it. Primarily, I have found that any piece of writing that ChatGPT produces sound drastically different, and oftentimes worse, than a piece of writing that I myself would create. Instead, I have found that ChatGPT is useful in giving me ideas for what to write about. For example, if I am stuck on a topic that I want to narrow down for a more refined research question, I can ask ChatGPT to give me suggestions. More often than not, I don’t actually use any of the suggestions that I am given. Instead, I am able to think about topics that I hadn’t previously, and dive deeper into my own research in ways I wouldn’t have thought about before.
Using ChatGPT for this assignment, I found that the responses it gave me varied dramatically as a result of minor word changes. For example, with the generic prompt “tourism Victoria BC,” I am given a very generic answer.
However, as soon as I provide it with a specific tone in which I would like the response, the answers begin to change. As you can see below, the simple contrast between “neutral” and “bored” — two words which in many instances could be synonymous — change the responses immensely.
Further, the tone words “angry” and “happy” provide very interesting insight into ChatGPT. As you can see, although the “angry” response tries to dissuade you from visiting Victoria, it acknowledges the “stunning gardens and gorgeous views.” It highlights some of the negative aspects of the cities without lying about its natural beauty, which is something that I did not expect.
