ChatGPT is now writing college essays, and higher ed has a big problem

Higher ed has the same problem it always did with essays and outsourcing.

Some educationalists have called for normalising ChatGPT into the process as a recognised mechanism, demanding students show they thought about what ChatGPT said, where it was demonstrably wrong, where the output had points worth making.

You might as well ask what role essays play in education at all. There's a bit of "we're here because we're here because we're here" about Essay writing but that said, I recall being told Prof Hermione Lee "bit back" at students in the late 1970s who complained about their essay burden in a term, noting she'd been expected to write close to that number a WEEK.

Long form writing is a discipline. Learning it helps demonstrate acquisition of knowledge and critical thinking, as well as communication skills and arguably honesty. ChatGPT doesn't have to be antagonistic to learning, but it does beg questions. Just as 'why do we teach latin to scientists' became a real question in the 20th century.

IMO that SOP essay for higher-ed / graduate admissions was always a comical problems. People took a lot of help from relatives , senior friends, and even professional admission-essay-writers. The content was at best 25% truth and the rest were "what the univ admissions office wants to see" to secure an admit.