“The Kids are Cooked”: ethical downsides of the widespread use of generative and conversational AI in higher education

The release on the market of Generative and Conversational AI tools and chatbots such as ChatGPT, Quillbot and DALL-E is rapidly revolutionizing the educational and academic environment. The widespread use of said engines, which are both easily accessible and quick to generate content, has the potential to pose threats to the core values of higher education and academia. The discussion will focus on the diffusion of the phenomenon among students and the possible repercussions such a change in paradigm will bring not only for the educational arena, but also for the academic world and society as a whole, touching the concepts of plagiarism, cognitive offloading, deepfake and post-truth.