Every year, prospective college applicants must submit an admissions essay that not only narrates their story but also distinguishes them and convinces the admission officer to select them. This process could be revolutionized by a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) application.
As reported by the Daily Camera, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed AI tools capable of reading and evaluating college application essays. The researchers compiled a diverse set of essays previously assessed by humans based on criteria such as authority, critical thinking, and collaborative skills. This initiative involved a collaboration with the Common App to collect data from 300,000 students who applied to colleges in 2008 and 2009.
Upon training an AI model to replicate human evaluations, the research team found that the AI-generated scores closely mirrored human assessments. The report suggests that the AI’s ratings could even predict a student’s likelihood of graduation with considerable accuracy.
By highlighting the essay attributes that could strengthen an applicant’s candidacy, even if the writing itself was not flawless, this tool aims to assist students who might otherwise be overlooked.
Furthermore, these AI tools offer the advantage of mitigating potential biases that admission officers may harbor based on factors like race, gender, or socioeconomic background.
Sidney D’Mello, a faculty member at CU Boulder and co-author of the study, expressed to the Daily Camera, “There’s truly more to an individual than what they articulate in an essay. I firmly believe that these tools can help identify ambitious, deserving, and exceptional students who might otherwise slip through the cracks.”
Role of ChatGPT and Other AI Bots in Essay Composition
While AI tools can offer impartial recommendations, they are not designed to replace human admissions officers. D’Mello clarified that these tools are meant to complement the judgments of admissions officers by highlighting applicants’ character traits from their essays, aspects that might have been overlooked during the assessment of well-crafted essays.
The experts emphasized the necessity for further refinement to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of these tools before their widespread adoption, acknowledging the inherent risks associated with any AI model.
