All Questions Answered: The Ultimate ChatGPT FAQ for Teachers

You can access ChatGPT through chat.openai.com or OpenAI’s website. ChatGPT is also available on web app and now available to be downloaded as a mobile app on App Store. Alternatively, you can also access ChatGPT through ai.com.

No. You will need to sign up using either your email or existing Google, Microsoft or Apple accounts. This is for the purpose of user identification on the platform or interface you are accessing it through. 

If you insist on using ChatGPT without creating an account or logging in, you can explore an alternative chatbot tool similar to ChatGPT that utilises a combination of GPT-3.5 and ChatGPT APIs called BAI Chat.

ChatGPT needs to verify your phone number during the sign up process for security reasons. Open AI uses phone number to verify that you are a real person. And the use of phone number is also to identify the country you reside in, as ChatGPT is currently not available in all countries. 

Rest assured that OpenAI prioritizes user privacy and follows strict data protection practices. If you are worried about the privacy of your phone number, it is used solely for verification purposes and is not shared with third parties. Your data is treated with the utmost confidentiality and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

There are no specific technical requirements or prerequisites for using ChatGPT. All you need is a device (such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone) with an internet connection. However, if you intend to utilize ChatGPT for coding purposes, proficiency in coding and programming skills would be necessary. 

Otherwise, ChatGPT is designed to be user-friendly, allowing you to interact with it simply by typing. Its interface is intuitive and accessible, making it easy for educators to engage with the model and benefit from its capabilities. So, as long as you have a device with an internet connection, you can use ChatGPT to enhance your teaching experience without any technical prerequisites. 

ChatGPT can answer 360 questions in an hour, according to the source itself. However, the actual number of questions ChatGPT can answer in an hour depends on many factors, from the complexity and length of the questions, and server capacity, to the number of users using the model, usage policies, and others. 

There is currently no limit to the number of questions you can ask ChatGPT-3.5 in an hour. However, ChatGPT-4 currently have a limit of 50 questions for a 4-hour time frame, to prevent misuse and ensure its server is not overloaded. 

Yes, ChatGPT-3.5 has a limit of 3000 words while ChatGPT-4 has a limit of up to 25,000 words. 

ChatGPT’s word limit is based on the number of tokens used. Each token represents a word or a part of a word. The maximum token limit for ChatGPT-3.5 is 4096 tokens, whereas the token limit for Chat GPT-4 is 8192 tokens. If the conversation exceeds this token limit, you may need to truncate or shorten the text. 

Even though we have seen tremendous upgrades in ChatGPT-4, which includes supporting web browsing and plugins, there is still no way to upload a document natively to ChatGPT. You can use the recommended plugin called Ask Your PDF but it would require you to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus to access it. 

Yes, ChatGPT is capable of writing essays. As teachers, this poses a significant concern, as it opens the door for potential plagiarism, with students using ChatGPT to complete their homework undetected. 

While it may be challenging for teachers to completely prevent students from utilizing ChatGPT in this manner, they can educate students on the responsible use of ChatGPT. This involves teaching students how to critically evaluate the information provided by ChatGPT, encouraging them to add their own original perspectives and arguments that ChatGPT may not be able to offer.

We have also compiled a list of the best AI plagiarism checkers to assist you in detecting plagiarism and misuse of ChatGPT in your students’ work. It is essential for teachers to emphasize the importance of academic integrity and guide students in understanding that essays are meant to showcase their own thoughts and analysis.

By teaching students how to effectively utilize ChatGPT as a tool rather than a substitute for their own intellectual efforts, educators can empower students to engage with the technology responsibly and ensure their work reflects their understanding and originality.

ChatGPT-3.5 does not have the ability to read and process images, but ChatGPT-4 has the ability to read and accept images, including photos and screenshots with texts. While it can read images, ChatGPT-4 does not have the ability to generate image responses. 

Yes, this is good news for all PowerPoint users! ChatGPT can automate slides creation using VBA codes. VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications in short, is a programming language that allows users to automate tasks in various Microsoft Office applications, including PowerPoint.  

ChatGPT-3.5 cannot read links, but ChatGPT-4 can. ChatGPT-4 reads link by anlaysing the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) codes and elements, as well as the metadata and content of a webpage, but it would require you to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus to access it.

Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnyFYh_hGpo

To get ChatGPT to read the links you provide, go to “Settings” > Beta features > enable the toggle for “Web browsing”, then ChatGPT would be able to access the web browser and provide you with information of the links and URLs you provide it with.  

Technically speaking, ChatGPT is plagiarism-free. ChatGPT is trained on a large dataset and generates human-like original content based on the input it receives. However, because of this exact reason, ChatGPT can produce similar content to existing sources, and hence can be mistaken as plagiarism.

ChatGPT also confesses that it does not have built-in mechanism to guarantee the content it generates is plagiarism-free: 

Hence, it is crucial for teachers to emphasise to students about the proper use of ChatGPT, as well as the importance of citation and original writing practices. 

While you cannot specifically check if a student used ChatGPT, you can detect if they have utilized AI to complete their school work. Numerous AI detectors are available to assist educators in detecting AI-generated content. On top of that, you can also check the perplexity (measure of randomness and uncertainty of a given text) and burstiness (measure of predictability in terms of sentence structure) of your student work. Low persplexity and low burstiness suggest the content may be AI-generated.

Yes, Turnitin has recently launched its own AI plagiarism detector. However, there are still controversies regarding Turnitin’s ability to differentiate genuine student work from AI-generated work. To make the matter even more complicated, there are even AI tools designed for the sole purpose to bypass Turnitin AI detection, such as undetectable.ai. Students may also utilise multiple Ai tools to paraphrase AI-generated content to improve its human-like score and fool these AI detection tools.

Ultimately, while tools like Turnitin and other AI plagiarism checkers can be helpful in flagging similarities or matches with existing content, they may not always be able to detect subtle instances of content generated by AI language models.

Therefore, it is important for educators to combine technological solutions with their expertise and familiarity with their students’ abilities. By evaluating the overall quality, style, and consistency of student work, educators can identify any inconsistencies or deviations that may indicate the involvement of AI-generated content.

The accuracy of information provided by ChatGPT depends on the recency of the information you are looking for. ChatGPT does not possess real-time knowledge or understanding beyond what it has learned from the training data, up till September 2021. Hence, it may not be aware of recent events, updates, or specific information that has occurred after its last training cycle or knowledge cutoff. 

ChatGPT also cannot self-verify the accuracy or truthfulness of the information it generates. And because ChatGPT is trained on data from the Internet, it is possible that the training data may contain biases or inaccuracies, resulting in ChatGPT inadvertently reproducing those biases or misinformation.

Finally, the million-dollar question that concerns every educator. No, while ChatGPT and other AI technologies are undoubtedly powerful tools in the realm of education, they cannot fully replace the role of human teachers. True, these AI tools can efficiently assist educators in various aspects of their teaching role including providing lesson plans, instant feedback, and extra guidances and resources. 

However, the teaching journey is incomplete without the human touch of empathy, creativity, and adaptability that skilled teachers bring to the classroom. These uniquely human traits are essential to fostering meaningful connections with students, as well as providing the social emotional support necessary for effective learning. 

So, instead of viewing AI as a threat, educators can and should embrace it as a valuable ally, that they can co-create an impactful learning environment with.