THE AGE Updated National Victoria Education Al tool banned in Victorian state schools Carla Jaeger February 1, 2023 - 6.19pm Students and staff will be blocked from using popular artificial intelligence service ChatGPT at Victorian state schools as the Department of Education probes the implications of using the technology. The decision to block access to the AI service from the department's servers was an interim measure, and was because of ChatGPT's terms of use, which specify that users must be at least 18 years of age, a spokesperson said. CHAT GPT ChatGPT is a language-processing Al model that is capable of generating human-like text, such as essays. ISTOCK "The department is undertaking further analysis of the implications of these emerging technologies and is preparing advice for schools," they said.1FVictoria is the latest state in the country to ban ChatGPT at public schools after similar announcements from education departments in NEW, Queensland, Tasmania and, most recently, 1Western hustralia. lI'JhatGIl'I' is a free online tool that generates text in response to a prompt, including articles, essays, jokes and even poetry, and has gained wide popularity since its debut in November. It has also become a topic of debate, as monies grow in academic and teaching circles that its tools could enable widespread cheating. In response to these worries among other concerns Opened, the creator of ChatGP'I', has released an \"imperfect\" software tool to identify text generated by articial intelligence. It is currently unclear whether private schools in Victoria will block access to the technology. In NEW, private school principals told The SunHerald theywill allow students to use ChatGFI'. The principals said access to the technology was necessary to prepare its pupils for the future, and that its teachers would be able to identify humanwritten work and radgenerated work. Australian universities last month updated their academic integrity policies, and from this year will make students sit rnore penandpaper exams, so there were less opportunities to plagiarise work with ChatGP'I' which has already occurred at a handll of universities in the US. However, Australian Council for Educational Research deputy chief executive Dr Catherine McClellan said moral panics about technological advances threatening education were as old as education itself. \"Every advance in leanring technology, paper, slate, chalk, every piece of tech, has been called the death of learning,\" she said. \"So I don't think panicking and saying 'you can't touch that' is the way to go it is how we use it so it is valuable for students.\" With Nick Bonyhady, Christopher Harris andAngus 'I'lunuson The MorningErtion rrensl'etter is our guide to the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here. 8 Carla laeger is a reporter at The Age Connect via Twitter or emai L