AI and EAP: perspectives from BALEAP members, October 2023
Following the launch of Chat GPT in November 2022, more AI-based tools have become available to the general public, and discussion about the potential impacts of AI on all aspects of society has broadened. In the HE sector, the use of AI tools by students in coursework is a particular source of interest (and concern?), and there has recently been a lot of discussion, on the BALEAP@jiscmail.ac.uk list, of how we should attempt to understand the use of AI in an EAP context, and how we should respond. This post is an attempt to summarise key themes and questions raised in this discussion, as a starting point for further discussion and research. I have focused on emails to the thread during the period 6 - 13 October 2023. Student use of AI to assist in the learning process All contributors to the thread either stated explicitly or implied that there is scope for students to use generative AI to develop their language and academic skills, and that there is a role for EAP specialists in ad