Admissions Officers Use A.I. Chatbots to Fill Out College Applications: What Does This Mean for High School Seniors?

Georgia Tech Admissions Officers Use A.I. Chatbots to Fill Out College Applications

Rick Clark, the executive director of undergraduate admission at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his staff took an innovative approach this summer by pretending to be high school students and using A.I. chatbots to fill out college applications. The admissions officers each assumed different high school personas, such as swim team captain, Eagle Scout, and musical theater performer, and fed personal details into ChatGPT to generate extracurricular activity lists and personal essays.

The goal of this experiment was to understand how A.I. chatbots could potentially reshape the admissions process and provide guidance for students applying to Georgia Tech. With the widespread availability of A.I. tools like ChatGPT, the traditional undergraduate application process at selective colleges is on the verge of significant change, raising questions about automated plagiarism and democratized access to essay-writing assistance.

Rick Clark emphasized the importance of directing students on how to use A.I. tools effectively, acknowledging that students will increasingly have access to such technology. While some educators express concerns about the impact of A.I. tools on critical thinking and storytelling skills, others see the potential for democratizing access to essay-writing resources for students who may not have the same level of support.

Georgia Tech has posted guidelines for applicants on using A.I. tools for college essays, encouraging students to use these tools as collaborators for brainstorming and refining ideas. However, the university warns against copying and pasting content that was not created directly by the applicant.

As the use of A.I. tools in college admissions becomes more prevalent, universities are grappling with how to address this new technology. While some institutions have issued guidelines on the use of A.I. tools in the application process, others have not taken a clear stance.

Overall, the experiment conducted by Georgia Tech sheds light on the evolving landscape of college admissions and the role of technology in shaping the application process. Students like Ritika Vakharia are navigating the pressure to create unique and personal essay themes in a time when basic essays can be easily generated by A.I. chatbots. The future of college admissions may be increasingly influenced by the intersection of technology and traditional application processes.