2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Since the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI on November 30, 2022, there has been significant academic interest in how it is currently being utilized in educational settings. However, there has been noticeably less focus on the impact of its application on writing-intensive courses in the construction field. This paper summarizes the major applications, policy strategies, and potential academic challenges linked with the development of ChatGPT use as an educational tool for enhancing practitioner-managed writing skills in construction writing over the past year. It provides insights into the controversial issues of the reliability of AI-generated information, the usability of AI-generated content, and academic integrity.

This study involves distributing a survey to 110 students enrolled in two writing-intensive courses in the Department of Construction Management at University A to assess their use of ChatGPT, aiming to evaluate their perceptions toward ChatGPT and their ability in identifying content generated by AI. The findings reveal concerns regarding the accuracy of information extracted by ChatGPT with considerable fabricated information still exists; the challenge in distinguishing AI-generated construction writing; and a pressing need for comprehensive guidelines for the application of AI-detection tools and related policies.