The new artificial intelligence system ChatGPT has passed an exam at the Wharton Business School, according to a new research paper, signaling the potential of the controversial chatbot.
Research from Wharton professor Christian Terwiesch found that the AI system “has shown a remarkable ability to automate some of the skills of highly compensated knowledge workers in general and specifically the knowledge workers in the jobs held by MBA graduates including analysts, managers, and consultants.”
On the final exam of Operations Management, a core course in the Wharton MBA program, ChatGPT did “an amazing job” and gave answers that were correct and “excellent” in their explanations.
“ChatGPT3 is remarkably good at modifying its answers in response to human hints. In other words, in the instances where it initially failed to match the problem with the right solution method, Chat GPT3 was able to correct itself after receiving an appropriate hint from a human expert. Considering this performance, Chat GPT3 would have received a B to B- grade on the exam,” the research concluded.
The language processing system GPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer, was developed by OpenAI and is designed to provide human-like conversation through artificial intelligence.
“The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests,” the system’s bio on OpenAI reads.
The new tool has rocketed to popularity and drawn concern over its potential use in school settings, as it can, among other tasks, write essays and answer complex questions with information pulled from the internet.
The New York City Department of Education earlier this month banned the use of ChatGPT on public school networks and devices due to concerns that students could use the tool to the detriment of their education.
Terwiesch’s paper suggests schools should take a closer look at the interaction between AI tools and the educational experience, including exam policies and “curriculum design focusing on collaboration between human and AI.”