Text analysis on early reactions to ChatGPT as a tool for academic progress or exploitation

• Main Authors: Bukar, Umar Ali, Sayeed, Md Shohel, Abdul Razak, Siti Fatimah, Yogarayan, Sumendra, Amodu, Oluwatosin Ahmed, Raja Mahmood, Raja Azlina
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer 2024
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/112815/; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42979-024-02714-7

Large language models (LLMs) have garnered significant attention lately, and one particular implementation that has captivated users is ChatGPT, a first-of-its kind innovation that sparks intense debates among professionals regarding its ethical boundaries, especially after it was released for public use. Some of the debates are ongoing, with several people getting more used to this tool and some losing touch with several ethical concerns. Thus, it is crucial to explore the early professional’s perspectives surrounding ChatGPT to comprehend its potential impact on the educational sector and, in particular, society in general. This research aims to address this knowledge gap by employing data mining techniques on LinkedIn to analyze ChatGPT-related discussions and provide a comprehensive textual examination. The dataset for this investigation consists of 166 records written in English by LinkedIn users discussing ChatGPT in its early stage. The study utilized VOSviewer software to clean, analyze, mine, and visualize the data. Among the sample, it was observed that 49% of the users are PhD holders, predominantly with experience in scientific research and data science fields. Hence, the findings reveal that issues such as plagiarism, references, citations, manuscripts, papers, and literature reviews stand out as the major concerns. These results suggest that while ChatGPT can contribute to academic progress by fostering new knowledge, thoughts, and ideas, it can also facilitate academic misconduct, including plagiarism and inaccurate information dissemination. Therefore, this paper also provides discussions on the implications and ethical issues of ChatGPT. In particular, it is imperative to establish clear ethical boundaries and guidelines for the appropriate use of LLMs in academic settings. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2024.