“CHATGPT; A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE” BY REEHA SHERAZI

ChatGPT, a name all of us students are well familiar with now. Right from its
launch, it succeeded in catching the attention of students all over the world. With a
solution to all of our problems just a touch away it was not a surprise when every
one of us started using it and now it has become an important homework
companion for many of us. But is it really our friend or a devil in disguise?

On the sunny side, ChatGPT provides us students with all the information that we
need and it gives us answers to all our queries and makes learning things and new
concepts easier for us. Plus it is always accessible, day or night. Students are
comfortable using it; they don’t feel shy, hesitant or anxious because there is no
fear of judgement. It sounds perfect. It sounds too good to be true.

And it is just that, too good to be true. Just as there is a sunny side there is a much
darker side to it too. This ‘one-touch-away’ feature comes at a cost, It makes us
students rely too much on ChatGPT for answers to our problems and for making
our assignments. It impacts our creativity and critical thinking; two of the most
marvelous skills that humans can possess. For instance, the wheel, the most
important invention of the human race, was a result of creativity and critical
thinking. And ChatGPT affects exactly these two.

Our over-reliance on ChatGPT hinders the development of our crucial cognitive

skills. Our creativity and critical thinking skills are dampening with the increased
use of ChatGPT in our lives. This dependency also takes a hit at the self-esteem of
the students. They lose trust in their abilities and opt for a short-cut to get their
answers readily and it seems like such a convenience but by using ChatGPT for
everything they are robbing themselves of crucial learning experiences.

Now, it is not that ChatGPT is inherently harmful but the way we are getting
accustomed to using it is awfully dangerous. If students are not guided well on how
to use ChatGPT not as a brain but as a helping tool then there are going to be some
very unpleasant consequences. If things carry on as they are now then we’ll have
fully capable yet incapacitated individuals debuting in our society. A generation of
zombies, with no mind of their own.