Due to abuse by ChatGPT & Co.: University of Prague cancels bachelor’s theses

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 fmXrkB”>

If you want to get a bachelor’s degree, you actually have to write a thesis at the end. Not so at the University of Economics in Prague. Anyone who will be studying at the Faculty of Business Administration there in the autumn semester will no longer have to press the keys. The written theses are replaced by a so-called bachelor project.

The reason: the enormous increase in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) among students. AI would almost always do the work and not the student. And the problem: AI work is difficult or impossible to recognize. “That is why the classic written work is being replaced by a new form in which it is clear that it is the student’s own work,” Dean Jiri Hnilica told the Czech magazine Forbes.

A practical bachelor’s degree has these advantages

Not only AI is a big problem, but also ghostwriters. “It is currently much more likely that a student will have their work done by a professional agency than by AI. Unfortunately, there are many,” Hnilica explains. His main arguments: A practice-oriented bachelor’s program offers much less room for plagiarism and students take with them much more useful experiences into their lives.

What exactly could such a practical thesis look like? The business university has already thought about this. “This is a professional internship combined with a detailed report on studying abroad, participating in a faculty research project or a specific business project.”

Is the introduction of a practical bachelor’s degree permitted?

The internship can take place at partner companies of the university. In the business project, students are expected to establish and start their own business. Anyone who sees their future in research can carry out a research project at the faculty.

Hnilica is not concerned that the decision will put the school in conflict with the law. “Current legislation allows us to replace existing bachelor theses with bachelor projects.”

In an experiment, reporters from Bayerischer Rundfunk managed to write a 40-page bachelor’s thesis in just three days using ChatGPT. A dean from the University of Bamberg (D) assessed the dissertation. The structure and writing style turned out to be good, although the AI ​​did make up some sources.

Source: Blick