Islamic College of Brisbane to incorporate artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in curriculum in pioneering decision

While other schools and universities blacklist it, one Brisbane school has embraced artificial intelligence in the classroom.

While universities and state education systems have black-listed state-of-the-art artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT, a Queensland school has announced it will embrace it and incorporate the technology into this year’s curriculum.

The Islamic College of Brisbane, situated in Karawatha on Brisbane’s southern outskirts and home to 1600 students, announced on Saturday it would revise its 2023 curriculum to allow the chatbot to become a teaching aid, with classes returning next week.

“With the right approach, we believe this technology could help unlock student creativity, offer personalised tutoring, and better prepare students to work alongside AI systems as adults – which will only enrich our classrooms,” College chief executive Ali Kadri said.

“ChatGPT can also help teachers save time preparing for class, by helping generate classroom materials which can be used to grade the work of their students for example”.

Mr Kadri said ChatGPT – developed Silicon Valley start-up OpenAI with backing from Elon Musk and Microsoft – has more pros than cons.

“We believe it’s time to rethink how students are being taught and evaluated,” Mr Kadri said.

“We are a forward-thinking college, and this technological tool certainly adheres to our view to nurture a culture of change.

Ali Kadri

“I’m aware of some facilities banning, or restricting its use on school networks and devices, but the reality is how do you stop a child accessing ChatGPT from a personal phone or computer at home?

“We believe that rather than tightening the screws around the use of artificial technology, we should instead be finding ways to harness its capabilities and help students navigate a bold new world.”

It is a bold move by the Brisbane college, but one that sets it apart from other schools not just in Queensland, but the country.

Following recent discussions on the AI issue, the Group of Eight – Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, including the University of Queensland – flagged a return to old-school practices, such as a greater use of pen and paper exams, to combat the threat the technology posed.

Most of the concerns around ChatGPT stem from its ability to provide answers capable of passing exam questions with flying colours and outsmart anti-plagiarism software.

American education departments have banned it on school networks.

However, Charles Darwin University AI expert Dr Stefan Popenici – who recently published a book on the implications of AI in higher education – called for education institutions to embrace AI.

There is also Australian software that could detect whether a piece of work has been written by AI which has attracted interest from universities already.