A person's head in blue outline with a futuristic interface in the background.
Navigating academia with multiple disabilities, including a visual impairment presented significant challenges. AI tools like ChatGPT offer an exciting possibility — they have the potential to level the playing field for individuals with disabilities. However, as Sam Altman CEO of OpenAI, and Mira Murati, the company’s CTO, recently highlighted in a joint statement, these AI tools also pose potential risks.
More than 350 people signed a statement released by the Center for AI Safety, an organization working to reduce AI risks, The Wall Street Journal reports.
I recall my college days at Loyola Marymount University, where a professor, Todd Shoepe, acknowledging my disability, allowed me to use color copies of diagrams for tests while my classmates were given black and white photocopies. This was not an unfair advantage; it was necessary for me to properly express my understanding of the material.
However, the guidelines governing the use of AI tools like ChatGPT are still under development. Casey Boyle Director of the Digital Writing and Research Lab at the The University of Texas at Austin told The Chronicle of Higher Education, “People are really focused, for good reasons, on academic integrity and academic honesty, and trying to redefine what that means with these new tools.” Yet, I worry this might become another excuse to deny accommodations under the guise of "unfair advantage".
Students with disabilities often face an uphill struggle in academia. Boyle rightly points out, “Students with disabilities or students who require accommodations are already working uphill. When we overreact, we’re increasing the slope of those hills.” Denying the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, despite the caution surrounding the technology, would only make this climb steeper.
AI tools can assist students with mobility challenges by eliminating the need for physical trips to libraries. They can help students who struggle with initiating conversations — such as those on the autism spectrum — by suggesting conversation starters. And for students who battle the "terror of the blank page," generative AI tools could suggest an opening paragraph to get the creative process started.
I implore educators to consider AI tools as allies, not enemies. Professor Manjeet Rege of the University of St. Thomas suggests, “I really want you as a student to do that critical thinking and not give me content produced by an AI… if you would like to take aspects of that, put it into a generative AI model and then look at analogies to help you understand that better, yes, absolutely, that is something that I encourage.”
Despite these uncertainties, I remain hopeful. Just as my professor at LMU understood and defended my need for accommodations, I hope educators will recognize the significant value AI tools like ChatGPT can offer those with disabilities.