The End of the University Essay?

Essays are a major means of assessing academic progress in most degree schemes. Essays (and reports) can be set both 'in class' and 'unseen' (as major components of invigilated 'in person' examinations). The latter, of course, can only be set, when face-to-face teaching is possible. Plagiarism (copying from other sources) is a major problem in the 'in class' (or even 'finals', under Covid rules) exercises. Plagiarism checks are routinely carried out on 'online' submitted material. Effective essay writing, however, is a skill, which has to be guided and nurtured. This is especially true in the UK of students whose first language is not English. Guidance is generally done, by providing effective feedback on the products of the 'in class' exercises. The development of Artificial Intelligence-driven chatbots, like Chat GPT, is making the whole process less viable (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/13/chatgpt-explainer-what-can-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-do-ai). Chat GPT can answer all sorts of questions. It will even 'write' essays (and other items), that are 'confident and fluently written, even if they are sometimes spectacularly wrong'. As it can write in the 'style' of the user, plagiarism becomes harder to detect. This wouldn't be a problem in the 'unseen' final examinations. Rich students, paying to have their 'in class' essays written by Chat GPT (or someother bot) would, however, never develop effective writing skills. They are likely, of course, get superior marks for the continuous assessment components of their courses. What should one do, if there is a major disconnect between 'in class' and 'unseen' essay quality? Just another thing for academics to worry about!