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LATIN COMPOSITION WITH CHATGPT
John Young
Sixteen years in the classroom have taught me that a relationship built on trust is essential for the success of the whole educational enterprise , of both the learning and the teaching . As teachers , we have to work to keep opportunities for cheating from popping up . It ’ s not that we can ’ t trust our students ; but it ’ s not fair to make them choose the virtuous path - that ’ s not what the assignment ’ s about ! So when I first learned about ChatGPT , I knew that I had to learn to use it alongside my students . I attended a workshop about it , paid for an account , and started experimenting with communicating with the AI .
I believe in the pedagogical value of student production of the second languages they study . I ask my students to compose fables , narratives , ekphrases , and encomia based on models . We started the year reading fables in Latin from Laura Gibbs ’ collection and they were tasked with composing their own in Latin .
After much reading , they began writing outside of the classroom . They received feedback , edited , read each other ’ s work , rewrote and presented to the class . As their presentations were taking place , ChatGPT became available with much fanfare . I initiated a conversation with them about it . They had heard of it , of course , but denied using it in the classroom – though they knew of schoolmates who had .
I projected and prompted the AI to compose a fable in the style of Aesop in Latin about three different animals . It completed the task before our eyes in under ten seconds in Latin that was more sophisticated and more grammatical than anything the students had produced .
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