You may have heard of this thing called ChatGPT. Well, of course you have. However, if you are anything like us, you are unlikely to have worked out its implications for education and life in general. Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or a bit of both? Whatever your view, it’s here, and presents a series of quite immediate challenges for teachers. For one thing, detecting plagiarism probably just got harder.

This week, we are offering you the opportunity to enter our ChatGPT quiz. There are, alas, no large cash prizes and no cars. Not even a modest fondue set. There is only the cachet of being right. Here’s how the quiz works: On this page, we have published two Higher Level Essays. Each essay responds to this question: How is English identity represented in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, The Remains of the Day? One of the essays was written by a ‘highly able’ student. We then spent about 15 minutes making several small modifications to her essay. The other essay was written by ChatGPT. We gave the chatbot a few prompts and, in less than 5 minutes, the essay was complete.

Which of the essays is written by a student, and which is written by ChatGPT? What do you think? If you feel suitably bold, put your answer into the comments section at the bottom of this page (which can be seen by subscribers only). Include a brief motivating statement that explains your answer. Best of luck. We’ll revisit the quiz towards the end of July with the correct answer.

David and Tim