(WXYZ) — Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., applications have significantly evolved over the past few months, and their use continues to spread in almost every aspect of our day-to-day activities.
Ravit Chandra, 17, is a senior at Novi High School. These days, he is busy prepping for his college applications.
"I'm aiming for Wayne State University, Michigan State and U-Mich Ann Arbor," said Chandra.
It's a process Chandra says can be overwhelming.
"It's your future that you have to decide on for the next four years in a matter of three months," he said.
Writing an essay is one of the most complex parts of a college application.
"Your essays are so personal to you that they need to stand out. So, I would say essays are one of, if not the most important thing," said Chandra.
Even after knowing the importance, Chandra refuses to write his essay using A.I. apps like ChatGPT, which allows users to have human-like conversations and much more but with a chatbot.
"I feel like the main thing is dishonesty. Because when you write these essays for college apps, you want to make sure it's about you," he said.
The biggest hurdle Chandra sees for A.I. apps is the inability to tap into an individual's memory and create emotional connections.
"My college essay is about me playing video games and how that kind of transformed into finding my side hustle in my free time ... and so how that created an opportunity for me to get more connections with people," he said.
It was time to put teen vs. machine to the test. We asked Chandra to read a paragraph from his essay that he had been working on for over a week.
Meanwhile, all I had to do was open ChatGPT, type and in less than five seconds, it delivered an essay.
"In a world filled with challenges and adversaries, video games have become my ultimate source of empowerment and inspiration," the A.I. generation read in part.
Sarah Zearfoss handles admissions for the law school at the University of Michigan — a place that has limited the use of A.I. apps for this year's applications.
"I am asking people to certify that they have neither used consultants to produce their essays nor robots," she said.
And even though Zearfoss is accepting applications in good faith, she is well aware that the technology is developing rapidly and will soon have to be accepted as an educational tool.
"We would say, 'use a ChatGPT prompt to answer this question,' and then we would be accessing your ability to use ChatGPT as opposed to assessing your writing," she said.
Now, both Chandra and Zearfoss say in order to write a compelling college essay, you have to be authentic and highlight your strong qualities.
