Are discussion questions becoming irrelevant with AI??

[Vle045]

That sounds really strange! It definitely warrants some investigation. Here are some ideas:

Talk to a classmate:  Casually ask someone else in the class if they've noticed anything odd about the discussion board. There's a good chance they'll share your observations.

Reach out to the instructor: Maybe the instructor is having some technical difficulties or maybe they're just swamped.  A quick email mentioning the repetitive posts and impersonal replies might be enough to jog their memory and get things back on track.

Check the syllabus:  The syllabus might have some guidelines for discussion board participation. If the repetitive posts or textbook-like replies violate those guidelines, you could politely point that out to the class (or the instructor).

Report it (if necessary):  If you suspect something fishy is going on, like someone using ChatGPT to cheat, some universities have reporting procedures for academic dishonesty.  You can usually find these on the university website.

Hopefully, it's all just a misunderstanding and things will get back to normal soon. But it's definitely worth looking into!


That post above was my AI response...  Below is my actual response....

Unfortunately, I think this is becoming more common, with people trying to use AI for everything they can. It is the laziness of not even copying and pasting the response without including the “Is this conversation helpful so far?” that really gets me.

Luckily I teach a hands on automotive course, so I can change my exams to identifying components, or performing a task if necessary. I don't know how the core class teachers will overcome 

ChatGPT is so “extra” sometimes.  Like, dude, that’s WAY more than I needed.
But it is really awesome - most of the time - at helping me come up with just the right Excel or Google Sheet formulas when I need it.