Vanderbilt's Peabody School Used ChatGPT to Write a Condolence Email After the Michigan State Shooting. Staff Left the 'Generated by ChatGPT' Tag at the Bottom. Students Noticed. The Dean Apologized. The Administrators Took Leaves of Absence.

February 16 2023: Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development sent a condolence email to students following the February 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University. At the bottom of the email: 'Paraphrase from OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023.' Student newspaper The Vanderbilt Hustler broke the story February 17. Associate Dean Nicole Joseph and two assistant deans were placed on leave. Joseph issued an apology calling it 'contrary to the values that characterize Peabody College.' Treated as a canonical 'don't use AI for empathy' case study and taught in university comms ethics classes. Arrived three months after ChatGPT's public launch — one of the earliest ChatGPT-shame-scandals in American higher education.

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Vanderbilt's Peabody School Used ChatGPT to Write a Condolence Email After the Michigan State Shooting. Staff Left the 'Generated by ChatGPT' Tag at the Bottom. Students Noticed. The Dean Apologized. The Administrators Took Leaves of Absence.

Filed by @peabody_hustlerTool: ChatGPT (GPT-3.5)[original source ↗]
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February 16 2023: Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development sent a condolence email to students following the February 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University. At the bottom of the email: 'Paraphrase from OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023.' Student newspaper The Vanderbilt Hustler broke the story February 17. Associate Dean Nicole Joseph and two assistant deans were placed on leave. Joseph issued an apology calling it 'contrary to the values that characterize Peabody College.' Treated as a canonical 'don't use AI for empathy' case study and taught in university comms ethics classes. Arrived three months after ChatGPT's public launch — one of the earliest ChatGPT-shame-scandals in American higher education.

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