Some teachers are now using ChatGPT to grade papers

In a significant shift towards the approved use of AI in schools, educators in grades 3–12 are now implementing a ChatGPT-powered grading tool named Writable, recently acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as per Axios. This tool aims to streamline the grading process, potentially offering time-saving benefits for teachers. By enabling teachers to submit student essays for analysis by ChatGPT, Writable provides AI-generated feedback for teacher review and subsequent delivery to students, ensuring human oversight in the loop.

Writable promises to enhance feedback by providing AI suggestions in real-time to teachers, targeting specific areas for improvement with rubric-aligned comments and saving grading time with AI-generated draft scores. The service also offers AI-written writing prompts tailored to engage students and meet classroom needs instantly.

While Writable claims to assist teachers in developing curriculum units using AI, concerns arise regarding potential drawbacks. Relying on automated grading could lead to educators taking shortcuts, reducing the value of personalized feedback and possibly diminishing teachers’ familiarity with course material over time. Additionally, privacy implications may arise from the use of cloud-based AI tools. ChatGPT’s imperfections, such as potential misinformation and misinterpretation of student work, also raise concerns about its accuracy and reliability.

Despite these considerations, proponents believe that tools like Writable can free up valuable time for teachers, allowing them to focus on more creative and impactful teaching. Advocates claim that AI grading tools empower educators, offering flexibility to allocate more time to direct student interaction and personalized teaching, as per Axios. Nonetheless, these assertions should be scrutinized critically before accepting them at face value.

Parents’ views on AI-assisted grading are mixed, according to a recent poll, with nearly half of respondents expressing openness to the concept. Writable is not the sole AI-powered grading tool available, as others like Crowdmark, Gradescope, and EssayGrader are also in the market. McGraw Hill is reportedly working on similar technology to enhance teacher assessment and feedback, reflecting the increasing infiltration of generative AI technologies across various sectors.