ChatGPT as a Virtual Laboratory Teaching Assistant in Undergraduate Biology

Abstract

The emergence of ChatGPT brings an opportunity to lighten the workload of in-person teaching assistance in science laboratory courses. We investigated the use of the language model developed by OpenAI as a virtual teaching assistant for an introductory undergraduate biology laboratory course. Student-generated questions related to a laboratory exercise on enzyme activity were separately provided to ChatGPT and a cohort of graduate teaching assistants (TAs). Responses were evaluated for content accuracy and teaching effectiveness. Results revealed that human TAs were more accurate in their responses and that human TAs demonstrated more substantial teaching effectiveness.Furthermore, students preferred a computer-generated response 40% of the time. Students were able to identify an AI-generated response 45% of the time. Students rated human TA responses more favorably. Overall, ChatGPT has the potential to impact undergraduate biology education by serving as a resource to students, lifting a burden from TAs and instructors for answering basic questions. However, students must understand the error rate provided by the system, and a safety net must be in place to ensure students do not proceed with incorrect information, which could present safety concerns in the biology laboratory.