Navigating ChatGPT: Opportunities, Challenges, and Plagiarism in Student Writing

Academic writing has been revolutionized by the advent of AI-driven writing tools such as ChatGPT, which have made it more efficient and accessible. Yet, concerns about academic integrity, plagiarism in particular, and the shortcomings of current detection methods have also surfaced as a result of this change. Examining how factors including frequency of use, knowledge of academic integrity, and application intent affect plagiarism levels, this study delves into the connection between ChatGPT and student writing. This research takes a behavioral and technological approach, which is different from earlier efforts that only address AI ethics or plagiarism detection. It touches on how user habits could effect academic integrity. The theoretical framework employs a quantitative methodology with analysis of variance tests to assess the relationship between the dependent variable, plagiarism in student writing, and three independent factors, namely, the frequency of ChatGPT usage, knowledge of academic integrity, and purpose of application. Students that use ChatGPT more often also had higher rates of plagiarism, according to the data (F = 8.25, p = 0.003). The usage of this technology for content development is associated with significantly higher rates of plagiarism among students (F = 10.68, p = 0.002). Plagiarism rates are substantially lower among students who score higher on measures of academic integrity (F = 12.47, p = 0.001). Additional advancements in AI detection systems, more stringent ethical standards, and enhanced training for academic integrity are also necessary. Investigating the effects on critical thinking skills over the long run and developing strategies to simultaneously accomplish innovation and academic integrity are both areas that could benefit from additional research.