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Hong Kong’s former finance chief John Tsang slams universities’ ChatGPT ban, saying if they can use calculators, they can use AI

  • Tsang says AI tools should be included in curriculum and students should be taught skills that cannot be replaced by machines
  • ‘The current education situation in Hong Kong is teachers of the 20th century using a curriculum from the 19th century to train students in the 21st century’, he adds

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Former Hong Kong finance minister John Tsang says ChatGPT and other AI tools should be included in the curriculum. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong’s former finance chief has said certain local universities’ ban on using ChatGPT was “unnecessary” and compared it with “disallowing the use of calculators when doing maths”.
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John Tsang Chun-wah, a former financial secretary for the city, was the first prominent political figure to openly criticise the recent restrictions by elite institutions, including the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

“Why don’t you allow students to use ChatGPT to write their first draft, making tweaks and doing in-depth analysis to enrich the content based on it?” Tsang questioned.

“Not allowing students to use ChatGPT is like telling them not to use calculators but pen and paper to do maths.”

Former finance minister John Tsang last week attended the FOMO Asia Genesis conference, a prominent Web3 summit in the region. Photo: Handout
Former finance minister John Tsang last week attended the FOMO Asia Genesis conference, a prominent Web3 summit in the region. Photo: Handout

“Teachers can determine whether students’ homework is transferred from AI or contains in-depth analysis and innovative ideas.”

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