Artificial intelligence in design education: evaluating ChatGPT as a virtual colleague for post-graduate course development

Abstract

This article explores the ability of ChatGPT to function as a virtual colleague in helping to design materials for higher education design students. Using a self-study methodology, two university educators attempted to collaborate with ChatGPT to create course materials targeted at higher education design students, before reflecting on its strengths and weaknesses during the process. Contextualising ChatGPT as the latest acute example of digital disruptors that design practices and processes have faced, the authors evaluated its current and potential threats and opportunities for the creation of design-focused learning content. The authors found that ChatGPT was a competent partner with regard to saving time, structuring textual content and documentation, and as a brainstorming tool. However, ChatGPT’s weaknesses included content generation that was often generic, usually requiring much human prompting, cajoling, and manual editing to produce desirable outcomes. Overall, ChatGPT was found to excel at its stated functionality as a language model, with some potentially useful functionality for the creation of higher education design course materials and outlines, as well as limitations. The reflections discussed can be used to inform design educators who may want to work with ChatGPT when designing course materials. However, acknowledging limitations and potential ethical challenges, the authors’ caution that educators may have to evaluate for themselves whether ChatGPT’s potential advantages outweigh its disadvantages.

Balancing Satisfaction and Clarity: Enhancing User Information Satisfaction with AI-Powered ChatGPT in Higher Education

“…Such tools have the potential to revolutionize content creation, offering an excess of resources and interactive experiences that can support personalized learning paths (Fui-Hoon Nah et al, 2023). Furthermore, educators have found that when leveraged judiciously, ChatGPT can serve as a facilitator for idea generation and curriculum development (Meron & Araci, 2023), potentially enhancing the educator's role by automating administrative tasks and allowing for more focused pedagogical strategies. The dualistic nature of ChatGPT's impact-its prospective benefits shadowed by ethical and integrity-related quandariesunderscores the need for an in-depth examination of its role and regulation in educational settings.…”

Exploration of ChatGPT in basic education: Advantages, disadvantages, and its impact on school tasks

“…In previous works, opportunities and challenges of using ChatGPT have been discussed, with many providing a multidisciplinary view by analyzing contributions on both negative and positive aspects (Merón & Tekmen Araci, 2023). Regarding this, Dwivedi et al (2023) argue that the technology in question demonstrates improvements in productivity but also poses risks to security and privacy when used inappropriately.…”

“…Regarding this, Dwivedi et al (2023) argue that the technology in question demonstrates improvements in productivity but also poses risks to security and privacy when used inappropriately. On the other hand, Merón and Tekmen Araci (2023), in examining the strengths and weaknesses of this application, consider it a potentially useful tool for designing materials; however, they also point out significant ethical limitations and challenges.…”

“…Its ability to generate content quickly and efficiently can be beneficial for students (Merón & Tekmen Araci, 2023). However, the possibility that students may overly rely on this technology raises questions about the development of their own skills.…”

Integrating AI language models in qualitative research: Replicating interview data analysis with ChatGPT

“…For example, researchers have used ChatGPT as an assistant for idea generation and data identification in finance research (Dowling & Lucey, 2023). As another example, ChatGPT has been used as a virtual colleague for developing postgraduate courses (Meron & Araci, 2023).…”