ChatGPT, capable of generating essays, poetry and program code in seconds, has sparked a global
In China, where the service is not available without virtualprivate network (VPN), more than a dozen students told AFP they used it to write essays, solve scientific and mathematical problems, and write computer code.
Eleven-year-old Esther Chen said ChatGPT has helped cut the time she spends at home in half, while her sister Nicole uses the bot to learn English.
Esther, who attends a competitive school in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, said she used to spend four to five hours every day doing her homework.
“My mom stayed up late until I had done all my homework, and we fought all the time,” she said. “Now ChatGPT helps me do research quickly.”
Several students told AFP that they bought foreign phone numbers online or used a VPN to bypass restrictions and access ChatGPT.
Last month, Chinese media reported thatBig tech firms, including WeChat's parent Tencent, and rival Ant Group, have been ordered to restrict access to ChatGPT on their platforms, and state media has criticized it as a tool for spreading "foreign political propaganda."
But Esther's mother, Wang Jingjing, said she didn't care.
“We have been using VPNs for years. Girls are encouraged to read a lot from different sources,” she told AFP, adding that she is more worried about plagiarism and keeps a close eye on her daughter.
Esther insisted that the chatbot did not do it for herall the work, pointing to a recent assignment in which she had to finish an essay based on the novel "Hold the Sky" by the world-famous Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin.
She said that due to the weekly schedule of piano, swimming, chess, and calisthenics, she didn't have time to finish reading the book.
Instead, she asked ChatGPT to give her a summary and paragraphs about the main characters and themes, and she wrote her paper based on that.
Students also use ChatGPT to get aroundthe lucrative English exam preparation industry in China, in which applicants memorize thousands of words with expensive tutors before exams required for admission to colleges in the US, UK or Australia.
"I didn't want to memorize lists of words or entire conversations," Stella Zhang, 17, told AFP.
So instead of spending up to 600 yuan ($85) an hour, she dropped out and now learns by chatting with a chatbot.
“It's less pressure… It also offers instant feedback on my essays and I can submit different versions,” she explained.
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