ChatGPT was officially introduced on November 22, 2022, by OpenAI. When It initially launched, it was described as a tool that could provide responses based on prompts. But since its introduction, ChatGPT has been updated and revised several times, and it now includes both free and premium account options.
During this period there have been many discussions about the use of ChatGPT at colleges and universities. Although it has been more than 18 months since ChatGPT was introduced, there are often more questions than answers.
Some professors and administrators have attempted to limit students’ use of ChatGPT. However, I actually recommend that my students at Rutgers’ School of Management & Labor Relations use ChatGPT. Here is an overview of how young people are already using ChatGPT—and why I believe we should encourage them to use it more.
Encouraging experimentation
As an advocate for technology and ongoing learning, I have encouraged students enrolled in my courses to use ChatGPT as one of their resources for a semester-long project. For example, they use ChatGPT to generate scenarios included in case studies designed for employee training programs. They also use ChatGPT to recommend training techniques that work best for specific generations.
I have found that many young people are familiar with using ChatGPT. For example, students in my course have used ChatGPT in other classes to research topics and summarize readings. Some students have used it to pursue their ongoing learning outside of formal class settings, and others have used it to gain clarification on a topic introduced in class and to outline papers.
What’s more, ChatGPT is being utilized by workers in professional settings every day. Korn Ferry’s workplace survey found that almost one in two companies (46%) currently use ChatGPT to complete work functions, and more than three in four companies describe ChatGPT as a beneficial tool.
To gain a sense of the experiences young people have with using ChatGTP in college and the workplace, I surveyed 200 students enrolled in my courses. The survey focused on their comfort with ChatGPT, whether ChatGPT is being used at their jobs, and whether they consider it a tool they can leverage for ongoing learning.
Among those surveyed, 88% told me they have used ChatGPT while enrolled in college. The most common uses of ChatGPT included explaining concepts and theories they learned in class, conducting research, and creating paper outlines. Additionally, roughly half of respondents consider ChatGPT a tool they can use for ongoing learning outside formal classroom settings. As an example, one respondent relied on ChatGPT to help them create a budget, while others use ChatGPT to research countries prior to leaving for study abroad experiences.
Plus, more than one in three (38%) of respondents have used ChatGPT in the workplace including to craft emails, apply to jobs, and analyze large data sets.
Implications for employers
Recent studies indicate that over 91% of organizations want to hire candidates with ChatGPT experience. Anecdotally, in speaking with companies that partner with Rutgers, several have expressed an interest in hiring early-career talent with knowledge of and experience with ChatGPT.
Although more than one in three (38%) of the survey respondents have used ChatGPT in the workplace, most are hungry for business leaders to encourage them to use the tool. If an organization didn’t offer training and/or speak about the benefits of using ChatGPT, some early-career professionals expressed concerns about getting in trouble if they found ways to leverage ChatGPT at work.
Still, I believe most early-career professionals are not yet ready to be considered experts at using ChatGPT in the workplace. That is, while most have found meaningful ways to utilize ChatGPT in college (e.g., outline a paper) and discovering information related to personal interests (e.g., learning about the best restaurants to visit in a new city when they travel abroad), they’re still not sure how to fully leverage ChatGPT in the workplace. In fact, early-career professionals were asked to rate their comfort level with ChatGPT on a scale from one to five (where 1 was very uncomfortable using ChatGPT and 5 was very comfortable using ChatGPT).
The most common selection was just three.