In recent months, ChatGPT has become very popular, drawing public attention to the use of artificial intelligence applications in various areas of public life. The situation resembles the popularity of the Pokemon Go game, which gave a strong impetus to the application of Augmented Reality technology in various spheres, including education.

Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, there has been a lot of interest in its capabilities from both users and education experts. Discussions in scientific fields are related to the effective use of ChatGPT in education, the benefits that can be obtained, how to overcome the challenges and risks, and what changes will occur when integrated into education. At the moment, there is a lack of in-depth empirical research and results of possible applications of ChatGPT in learning since it has been used by teachers and learners for a short time.

The effect of the application of different technologies or pedagogical approaches in learning is visible over time. The results of the integration of applications with artificial intelligence (AI) and, in particular, ChatGPT will be possible to analyze years from now.

The topics of providing personalized and adaptive training and integrating activities that stimulate the critical and creative thinking of learners are increasingly relevant. Applications that are based on AI, including ChatGPT, can be suitable tools to provide personalized support and guidance to each learner based on his learning status, preferences, and personal characteristics ^[1]. They can contribute to increasing learners’ engagement and motivation to learn through appropriate integration into the learning process, tailored to the learners’ educational needs, aimed at achieving specific learning goals. The self-serving use of digital technology just because it is fashionable and supposed to attract learners’ attention and provoke their interest cannot lead to positive results.

The emergence of new tools, especially those based on AI, raises concerns that technology may replace the teacher in the classroom. ChatGPT can support and automate the activities of educators, but their role as mentors who provide guidance and more profound assessment of learner abilities and role models cannot be entirely replaced by technology ^[2]. ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (GAI) representative, can create quizzes and assignments that are automatically checked and graded, generate feedback, and provide personalized learning content depending on the learners’ results. Such capabilities should not be seen as a threat to the role of teachers but as an advantage that saves their time and effort in performing routine actions.

2. The Model ChatGPT

An artificial intelligence system is defined in a European Parliament report as “a system that is either software-based or embedded in hardware devices, and that displays behavior simulating intelligence by, inter alia, collecting and processing data, analyzing and interpreting its environment, and by taking action, with some degree of autonomy, to achieve specific goals” [5]^[3] (p. 6). AI is the science that deals with programming a computer, computer-controlled robot, or software to think intelligently as humans do. This requires understanding how the human brain works, how people learn, decide or operate when solving a problem, and then using the results to construct intelligent software [6]^[4]. AI-based machines can mimic or even exceed human cognitive abilities, including sensing, language interaction, reasoning and analysis, problem-solving, and creativity [7]^[5]. Distinguishing the basic terms and concepts related to AI is necessary to better understand how they work and how they are applied. There are differences in algorithms between machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing (NLP), of which ChatGPT is the primary representative [8]^[6]. A chatbot is a software program that uses user input to simulate human-like interaction [6]^[4]. It simulates natural conversations with users through text or voice messages [9]^[7]. ChatGPT is a language model created by OpenAI that allows people to interact with a computer in a natural way. ChatGPT is a GAI as it has the ability to generate original results [7]^[5]. The reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) method is used to train ChatGPT, and the created reward models help in its improvement through Proximal Policy Optimization. This process follows three main steps and goes through several iterations. One of the innovations is the possibility to create add-ons (plugins) that provide access to up-to-date information, perform calculations, and use third-party services [10]^[8]. It should be pointed out that ChatGPT is not the only natural language processing (NLP) AI model that can understand and generate conversation in natural human language. In February 2023, Google introduced Bard, which follows the LaMDA (Language Models for Dialog Applications) model. Although ChatGPT and Bard have similar functionalities and applications, they differ in the number of tokens, token limits, Conversation Retention, human interaction, and response accuracy [11]^[9].

3. Benefits of Using ChatGPT in Education

The implementation of chatbots in education shows positive results and can help create a supportive learning environment by providing timely and accurate information and reducing the administrative burden [12]^[10]. ChatGPT can function as an intelligent assistant in the learning process and provide learners with interactive help at any time and from any place. ChatGPT can answer questions, systematize information, assist learners in exam preparation, and provide feedback [13]^[11]. Learners can discuss with ChatGPT emerging problems or ideas for solving tasks and problem situations [14]^[12]. This dialog can help them develop reading and writing skills through discussions about the generated explanations, solutions, and suggestions [15]^[13]. By taking on the functions of a mentor or tutor, ChatGPT can help increase learners’ motivation and make the learning process more engaging [16]^[14]. Ref. [9]^[7] has explored the application of ChatGPT in foreign language teaching and learning, considering the advantage of practicing the language through everyday conversations 24/7 at any time and place. This study observed overcoming learners’ anxieties through free conversations, stimulating their interest in language acquisition, and ensuring more engaging learning. ChatGPT can generate realistic dialogues and provide learners with authentic examples of language use [17]^[15]. The research results show that ChatGPT can generate easy-to-understand explanations and code with a high degree of correctness that are useful in studying algorithmic concepts, identifying errors in the code, and helping with its optimization with time-saving suggestions [15]^[13]. ChatGPT can also assist educators and save time and effort in generating learning and assessment materials, allowing them to focus on more complex course design and pedagogy [18]^[16]. Instructors can use ChatGPT as an ideation facilitator [19]^[17] to generate ideas for lectures, presentations, plans for workshops, and practical lessons [20]^[18]. Lesson planning can be a starting point for less experienced teachers [21]^[19]. ChatGPT supports educators in generating quizzes and assignments, their assessment, and the provision of personalized feedback [21,22]^[19][20]. ChatGPT can improve access to information and be helpful in collecting and providing information on a given topic to users. Unlike search engines that provide a massive list of links to Internet resources that sometimes lack relevance, ChatGPT provides answers and gives enough information to users without the need to browse through a long list of sources [3]^[21]. ChatGPT saves time and effort in searching, finding, and systematizing information, and users can focus on assessing credibility and critically analyzing information [21]^[19]. Integration of ChatGPT in education can stimulate learners’ critical and creative thinking through discussions about texts that are generated by AI [3]^[21] and develop skills for presenting and defending the creative ideas, finding evidence and references for them [23]^[22]. ChatGPT can help with personalized and adaptive learning. Based on the analysis of learners’ behavior and dialogue, ChatGPT can generate personalized resources and learning activities that meet their educational needs and individual learning styles [15,24]^[13][23]. Educators can monitor learners’ progress, clearly view their work and achievements, and respond appropriately by offering timely support and implementing adaptive teaching strategies [25]^[24]. Providing personalized feedback to learners [21]^[19] enables the identification of problem areas and targeting of performance improvement efforts [24]^[23]. Timely feedback allows learners to correct misconceptions, clarify unclear concepts in real time, learn at their own pace, and not rely solely on the instructor, which is especially important for large groups of learners [19]^[17]. Personalized and immediate feedback and individualized learning paths lead to increased motivation and engagement, better outcomes, and learners’ satisfaction and are essential for those with special educational needs as well [25]^[24]. ChatGPT can reduce the administrative burden on educators by assessing learners’ assignments and providing feedback [25]^[24]. ChatGPT can be used as an assessment tool, including for essays, to shorten the assessment time and provide immediate results and feedback to learners [4]^[25]. ChatGPT enables learners to develop new digital skills that are very important in today’s technological society. Learners need to formulate the correct questions and prompts, operationalize the tasks, and give precise instructions to get satisfactory answers ^[26].

4. Drawbacks and Challenges of Using ChatGPT in Education

Like any new technology that rapidly is implemented in education, ChatGPT undoubtedly raises a number of concerns among educators. ChatGPT is a GAI that can create texts whose authenticity cannot be guaranteed. ChatGPT is not a search engine and does not provide factual information but is programmed to generate plausible-sounding text ^[27]. It is possible for ChatGPT to provide incorrect or misleading answers, which can lead to misinformation and learning the wrong things [14]^[12]. A significant risk is the generation of inappropriate content [17]^[15] with elements of bias and discrimination [13,21]^[11][19] if a model is trained on a dataset that contains such items [4,17]^[15][25]. In addition, ChatGPT has a knowledge limitation until 2021, which may also result in the generation of incorrect information [13]^[11]. Dependence on technology and heavy reliance on generative tools such as ChatGPT can negatively impact the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Obtaining answers easily and quickly and generating completed texts can limit critical thinking and problem-solving skills [15]^[13] and significantly reduce the learning experience that students gain [14]^[12]. They may not learn basic concepts and have serious gaps that will not allow them to cope with more challenging tasks due to a lack of background knowledge [14]^[12]. In addition, the lack of human interaction may reduce the quality of the educational experience for students [25]^[24]. ChatGPT can compromise the validity of assessment practices, especially those involving written assignments, and become a serious threat to academic integrity [4]^[25]. One of the most common concerns is that the use of ChatGPT threatens and will inevitably lead to the end of writing texts (the essay) as an assessment method ^[28]. Many learners just copy the generated text without any critical analysis and no citation [23]^[22]. ChatGPT skillfully paraphrases generated responses in a way not detected by plagiarism software [3]^[21]. As a preventive measure, a number of universities are banning the use of ChatGPT. The response of others is to change how students are assessed—without papers written at home [7]^[5]. Unfair learning assessment is another consequence of using ChatGPT. It is possible learners who use ChatGPT to generate academic texts to have higher results than those who do not use it and rely on their own capabilities and efforts, and this is likely to negatively affect students’ emotions ^[29]. ChatGPT and other generative models involve the collection and processing of personal data, which raises concerns related to privacy and data security and their misuse [15]^[13], as well as ethical concerns due to the inability of the tool to determine the user’s age and risk young learners being exposed to age-inappropriate responses [7]^[5]. Accessibility issues are also possible—the unavailability of the tool in some countries due to government regulations, censorship, or other restrictions, and on the other side, uneven distribution of availability, price, and speed of the Internet [7]^[5].