New Illinois Bill Targets ChatGPT Use In Colleges

AI still doing the most.

It's become a concern in recent years that college students would use ChatGPT to write their papers, cheat, etc. While that's super problematic, a new measure in the Illinois legislature takes aim at professors using it.

According to Newsweek, the bill in Illinois (which passed the Senate 46-12) would bar community colleges from using artificial intelligence instead of human instructors to teach classes.

College students using AI to cheat is one of the reasons I hate it so much, but I digress, though some schools forbid the use of AI.

But this one is for the professors. The Illinois bill would allow instructors to use AI to "augment course instruction", but the AI couldn't be the "sole source of instruction for students".

The bill comes after a situation at Northeastern University, when a student demanded a tuition refund after she caught her professor using ChatGPT to formulate lecture notes.

Illinois Republicans argue that it puts restrictions on community college boards, especially ones in places where recruiting humans to teach classes is already a challenge.

Illinois Democrats say that the bill guarantees students get proper instruction and it acknowledges the roles that teachers, staff, and faculty have in students' lives.

Now, the bill will go back to the Illinois House, which has to approve an amendment the state Senate made before it can go on to Governor Pritzker's desk to be signed.

AI in the classroom is a subject that has educators split. Some are supporting using AI in the classroom for additional instruction, while others argue that it facilitates cheating.