 Chat GPT? Wow. I mean, who can deny that the only thing that is certain is uncertainty? And I think that's basically where the start and end of the whole debate around the use of chat GPT in academia lies, really. So where do I begin? I mean, it's something that has taken higher institution or, you know, higher education globally, really, by storm. And I think, if I'm honest, I think the anxiety surrounding the rise, the use, and basically how chat GP is mimicking or mimics human intelligence, the anxiety that is the, you know, at the center of everything is the fact that people feel that they are going to be replaced and ultimately they're going to be jobless. And that's a pretty valid concern. And, you know, it's valid for people to be afraid. I think that is more of the concern rather than, you know, the ethics of cheating and plagiarism. Because, of course, plagiarism and cheating academic integrity is something that definitely forms educational malpractice. But if it doesn't affect you directly, I mean, it's human nature to not be concerned with things that aren't your problem until they become your problem. So, you know, a student might cheat on a paper and, you know, in terms of your own ethics for yourself and for, you know, the environment that you work in, you feel inclined to report the students and make them undergo the whole process for plagiarism of work. But obviously, the extent to how that affects you is in the bigger picture because until somebody infringes your own copyright, somebody copies your work and passes it off as their own or monetizes something that you've put your blood, sweat and tears into, it doesn't really hit home. But obviously, plagiarism, you know, any kind of academic malpractice is just something that we kind of uphold because one day, you know, the repercussions can come and bite us in the arse. And I think with chatGTP, chatGTP, sorry, I keep calling it chatGTP, I think what the real concern is that basically we're going to be replaced and nobody's going to need anyone to write anything. Therefore, teaching is going to decline, research is going to decline. And with AI and the way AI has or is replacing human resourcing or manpower or apparently, I'm not allowed to say manpower. I was I was called out in saying manpower because apparently it's very sexist. So the politically correct word is workforce. But I'm going to call it manpower because I can and I will. So, you know, computers replacing manpower basically, I think we considered it to be a problem that doesn't necessarily affect more intellectually challenging jobs. So for example, you know, self checkouts and things like that. And actually my mum is somebody who advocates for self service checkouts to not replace cashiers. So she would go to a supermarket and request for the actual checkout to be open. And the people working there who tend to kind of be, you know, younger people will kind of be annoyed. And what usually happens is they will stereotype her because obviously my mum is visibly Muslim, she wears hijab and she's black. So they'll kind of think automatically, you know, she can't use self service checkout because she's a litra. Unfortunately, that is a stereotype that something she comes across, which obviously couldn't be further from the truth. And even if it was truth, you know, you can argue that the fact that somebody is illiterate and cannot use any kind of self service device still warrants some form of basic respect in terms of customer service. But I digress. The point I'm making is my mother would actually actively like challenge and say, look, I'm advocating for you. If we all use these self service checkouts, then you're going to be out of the job. And she stands by that, she refuses to use them, she will always request for being served by a checkout. And I think personally for me, I do definitely enjoy a human interaction. And I think definitely sometimes in the morning, because I like to go out and shop in the morning really early. So my local supermarket like around 637, there are specific checkout ladies who I go to and we have a morning chat. And I think I never fully appreciated the extent of that until the whole lockdown situation that we faced for two years. So definitely now I mean, before lockdown, I would happily stay in my home for a week as long as I had food and internet, I really didn't care and TV, I really didn't care to kind of, you know, go out. But definitely post lockdown life changed that for me. I think things I do for granted, I definitely appreciate human interaction a lot more. There are benefits of obviously remote working and remote living that we do. But I think I really appreciate a hybridity and the, you know, combining the benefits of both. So obviously that transcends into the use of chat GTP, because essentially why I'm using the analogy of self service checkouts is because before it was seen as an them problem, not an us problem. And, you know, I, you know, forgive me if you kind of feel that this offends you in any way, because definitely that isn't my mission here. If anything, I do try to keep what I put on this particular channel of mine as neutral as possible, obviously my personality is my personality and I'm not going to water that in any way. But I think in terms of like overly leaning to any kind of political ideology, I think that's for my other channel. But this channel is more of what it's supposed to be. So just more, you know, just a straight more fact based knowledge base hub really. What I'm trying to say is basically, I think with a lot of issues where any kind of restructure happens, whether it's within a company, an institution or in society in general, it's more seen as a working class problem or a lower income people problem. So obviously the benefit or privilege that people enjoy working in higher institutions as academics and as researchers is that there is a middle class privilege that comes to it and that's undeniable whether or not that sounds nice or not, it is true. It's really seen as the intellectuals are kind of protected because of their intellectual privilege. And I have mentioned before that privilege is something that regardless of race or any other characteristics, I think all people have access to a type of privilege that puts you ahead. And I think that's why it's even more important for equity, because equity recognizes when there are certain privileges and others do not have that. So basically the level ground isn't level, the playing field, sorry, isn't level for everyone. But again, let's let's pull back to the point. I think the reason why I kind of provided this tangential context is because I think it can't be ignored. Like I said, I think that the main issue is the fact that not that chat GTP will really affect students' creativity or their ability to work independently and produce thought provoking, critical work. It really is because people feel threatened. Or perhaps people who enjoy a certain societal privilege, whether it's intellectual privilege or a class privilege that, oh, there is a real possibility that we could be overhauled and replaced. And there's going to be a scarcity in teaching and research opportunities, which obviously that has a direct impact on our livelihood. And I think that is where the uproar and the panic comes from rather than, oh, students really shouldn't be doing this. This is unethical. It's academic malpractice and et cetera. If students can use AI to produce assessments. And then what next is the AI going to actually replace lecturers and tutors and examiners, supervisors. That's really where the the anxiety is. So my own perception of chat GTP. So initially, I just really wasn't on board with it. I really didn't know much about it until the last four months. And it was something that in the university that I work in, we obviously that's something that came up. And like I said, again, at this point, I wasn't familiar with it. So about four months ago, people like, you know, students using chat GTP, it's this, it was issues surrounding plagiarism. But then I realized that the issues regarding chat GTP plagiarism wise wasn't necessarily to do only with plagiarism and academic integrity, et cetera. It really was to do with shit. We are replaceable. And we may be replaceable faster than we can actually catch our breath or even blink. So I was okay, like whatever. And then there was, you know, things came up in department meetings and people were like, this needs to be addressed, there needs to be a serious address of this problem. Yes, chat GTP. So we move into 2023. I still don't really get a feel for this AI tool. And it goes on, students. And what's happened is basically students are using chat GTP for assessment purposes. And what's happening is that there's no clear guidelines within university assessment policy that says, this falls into cheating, basically, plagiarism, or any kind of academic malpractice, getting an AI tool to write your essays. So that because that's a gray area, and it's obviously an emerging area, fastly, rapidly, you know, changing in terms of pretty much almost every day, something is new. And the mechanics of how to bring about policy change in education is slow. It's slow, it requires the initial uproar and kind of, you know, unsettling people running around like headless chickens. And then there's a sit down, a kind of, you know, briefing of what's going on. And then from there, there needs to be actual, now you can fast track it, of course, but there needs to be research and discussions and everything until something is done, and policy comes into effect. Meanwhile, chat GTP is faster and smarter and more used than ever. So I actually did have a play around with it. And I can't deny that it is something that definitely in the most underrated term will revolutionize the way that we teach and the way that we write, and the way that we assess at higher education institutions. And my colleagues share this sentiment, and actually the person who initially brought this as, you know, oh my God, this is a real problem we need to address, is somebody who now is also on the bandwagon that hang on a second, this tool is actually really good. And it does things that are make our lives easier, really. So bearing that in mind, chat GTP has entered the chat and is not going to leave any time in the infinite future, really. There's no way, like, human beings don't think, oh my God, this is so easy, this is so cool, and you know, so easy, so cool, makes my life so much easier. Oh no, but I'm not going to use it because it may put people out of a job, and it may have like implications that are unethical. People don't think like that. Ethics are pretty much only really meaningful if, in some way or form, the outcome of what you're fighting against will have an impact on your life, honestly. So you cannot, there's no way that you can stop students from using it, and also from an actual education for social justice. If something makes people's lives easier and, you know, it brings some kind of benefit, then why should you stop people from using it, really? And again, this brings me back to some more context. So I started my business in 2008, and it initially started off as a creative and poetry, creative writing and poetry magazine, and it was online. And then cut a long story short, I started doing website design, and from then on, about 2011, that's when GoDaddy came in and were offering domains for like a pound, and then there were, what's the name of the other website? I can't remember, but there was one website where you literally just wicks, I think wicks, yeah, you just sign up 10 pounds a month and you have the templates done. And I remember at that point, that was my business, that was my livelihood. After I finished my masters, I actually just ran my business. I was creating websites for businesses in Nigeria and in the UK. Literally, that was my business, creating, and it was it was cool, because at that time, it cost hundreds or thousands of pounds to have a website made. And especially in Nigeria, in the city that I was doing this, I was the only female who was doing it. I was, you know, a young female who was doing this, so it was really lucrative for me. And I remember because GoDaddy and Wicks kind of came and all, you know, just literally the demand for a website designer dropped. I just diversified and things moved on. And here I am now in 2023 with a completely different business, but all came off the backbone of my skills as, you know, a creative entrepreneur, somebody who enjoyed graphic design, somebody who enjoyed website design, and what do I do now? Obviously, that incorporates into my actual profession. You know, I'm a lecturer, I'm an educator, I teach academic English, I teach dissertation writing, research writing, and that actually is an amalgamation of what my business is. So it really is a case of, literally, chat GTP is here to stay. And we, as whoever we are, researchers, educators, tutors, lecturers, we have to work with it. We have to work with it. And it's not, it's not an us versus them, it's not a we versus chat GTP want to see the back of it. That's very stupid, actually. That's something that it's kind of like a baby thrown a tantrum. You can't get rid of chat GTP. From a English for academic purposes, professional perspective, because obviously that's what I do, I teach English for academic purposes at higher education level. The start of the reform is basically the way we assess things. So it may be that, you know, the way that we give people, we give students work to do to carry out, you know, kind of any kind of research or any assignment. And at the end of it is a written assessment, an essay, a report or whatever. That may have to change in the way that we administer it. So in the way that, you know, students are allowed to do it and then hand it in. That may have to change. It may have to be a case of, you know, going more on exams, which I don't favor because I personally, I've always loved essay writing. It's something that is a strange thing about me. But as a child, I think from about nine years old, I remember nine, I just really enjoyed, I enjoyed writing before then, that specifically essay writing, I had this interesting essay writing from the age of nine. And I did really well in my essays and any writing projects in school. And that's kind of why I love what I do today, because I really do enjoy reading writing and specifically essay writing, project writing, dissertation writing, all that kind of thing. So that's a shame, because I do like essay writing, I really do enjoy it. And I enjoyed it when I was in my undergraduate too, and the rest of my study. And a colleague of mine who I was speaking to where there were three of us having this conversation. So one colleague was just like, I hated essays, I didn't want to do it. I don't see the point in it anyway. And then my other colleague was like, well, I actually do like essays and I do. And I think for me with essays, apart from the fact that I am just probably nerdy and geeky and I like writing in kind of, you know, formal English and writing about things. I think essay writing and the the skills are embedded with it really just made me into a more confident speaker, confident in my analysis of things and the way I approach things, the way I look at things, the way I challenge things, whether it's at work, whether it's in just normal day to day, if I get, you know, bad customer service on a plane or in a restaurant, I have the confidence based on kind of the way I've been able to debate intellectually within a written paper. I can, you know, use that to make points and back up my points and expand on my points and conclude. And it definitely has empowered me in all works of my life. And I think even in personal aspects of my life, which I don't really want to get into, but in terms of like even the way that I would deal in, you know, relationships with family or friends, I do take a very strategic approach that I would in essay writing. And I think that that definitely has improved my quality of life. So I definitely wouldn't be advocating for, you know, essays to not be an assessment method, but also bearing in mind that, you know, technically people do use AI tools to write essays, then that is something that needs rethinking. And I think that is the benefit of being human being human. If we hadn't had adapted to change and evolved over how many thousands or millions of years we've been here, the human race would have been extinct. But it's not. I think it's fair to say the human race hasn't thrived in the way that it does this day in 2023 in the past 100 years, like in the past 100 years has been such a rapid growth of so many things, whether it's industrialization, technology, our health, so many things. So I think I don't want to sound too preachy, but definitely looking at it from one perspective that yes, we are replaceable, but that really is something that you should have been comfortable and aware with. Regardless of having any AI tools, you are replaceable as an employee. You are replaceable as somebody who is a worker, whether you are a working class worker, or a middle class, or even upper middle class, you could be an executive in a company, you are replaceable and dismissible. And that is something that you have to address and see how you can diversify your own resources, your own human resources, and also take control of your own human resources and manpower or whatever, you know, you have human labor. And don't give all of that power away to one particular institution who can dispose of you because, yes, chat GTP for sure can spell the end for many different types of careers within education. But even without it, you literally are and always have been replaceable. So based on that, it's not a case of shit, chat, chat, chat. I can't say it, chat, GPT. Yeah, it's not a case of, oh my God, this monster's here and we're doomed. It's a case of it's here. And we need to reevaluate in depth how we commoditize and how we, you know, diversify and make the best of the resources we have as human beings, whether we are writers, researchers, authors, educators, lecturers, tutors, whatever it is. And I think obviously, I think you won't dispute that being comfortable doesn't aid you in growth. And I think this particular issue of chat GPT, making us very uncomfortable is exactly what we needed in a world where everything is dynamically rapidly changing. It's not a time to be comfortable. It's not a time to be comfortable. It's a time to really reevaluate the way that we work, we teach and we learn. So I'm going to leave this for now. This is not a definitive, conclusive chat on the issue. I definitely will revisit it and probably take a more approach, a more writing strategy approach to it because obviously that's the essence for me anyway. That's how it directly affects me. But I definitely, I see opportunities and I see things of just, you know, basically reforming and reevaluating myself as somebody who I've always been, I've never had my finger in one pie. I am fully aware that I am replaceable and I am dismissible by any institution or company. And that is why I have my finger in many pies and I'm able to literally turn my passions and my hobbies and skills into other monetisational platforms, which has benefited me for over 12 years. So like I said, this is a conversation I would like to revisit and continue. Any comments, of course, you're very free. I look forward to hearing what you have to say on the matter. So thank you for listening and goodbye.