Is Using ChatGPT Cheating?

[00:00:00] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: This episode was sparked by a question a student asked in my classroom. A hand went up… Dr. Schroeter, is using ChatGPT cheating? The whole class leaned in, some curious, some skeptical, some just glad someone finally asked. That question deserved more than a yes or a no.

[00:01:38] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: When someone asks if ChatGPT is cheating, what they are really asking is, am I skipping something important? Is this a shortcut away from learning? Here is my answer. Using artificial intelligence is not cheating. Using it passively is just ineffective. When you use AI, you have to use it actively.

[00:03:15] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: I explained it in class with a treadmill, because I am also a fitness instructor. Say you want more steps in your day. You could drive to the rec center, check in, wait for a machine, and ask a trainer how to use it. Or you could put a treadmill in a corner at home and hop on between meetings, no traffic, no locker room.

[00:05:05] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: If someone said working out at home does not count, that would be ridiculous. What matters is that you move your body, not where you move it. AI is the same. The question is not whether you used ChatGPT. It is whether you thought about what you were trying to say and used the tool to get there. A treadmill does not do the walk for you, and AI does not think for you.

[00:06:24] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: You still write a specific prompt, then evaluate what comes back. I call it keep, rewrite, toss. You might refine the prompt five times before it is usable, and sometimes it surprises you with something you had not considered. Looking at the output and making decisions is not cheating. That is thinking.

[00:08:06] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Using ChatGPT does not replace your thinking. It accelerates the process, and time is the real currency. None of us get more than 24 hours in a day. If a tool gives you an hour back, that is 365 hours a year, about 15 extra days. I would encourage you to spend that time building connection with the people who matter.

[00:09:55] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: A few smart uses. Paste in a long email or document and ask for the takeaway and the action to take. Brainstorm titles or taglines with a set number of words. Think of it like a smoothie… you still gather the ingredients and hit blend. If you worry about sounding like everyone else, that just means you need better prompts.

[00:12:00] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Edit with intention and add your own voice, because your voice is the real value. Here is what I told my students. I am not grading you on whether you used ChatGPT. I am grading you on whether you thought critically and understood the material. If it helps you get unstuck, wonderful. But letting it think for you means you missed a chance to grow. The future belongs to those who use their tools thoughtfully.