Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI

Leo Leppänen; Lili Aunimo; Arto Hellas; Jukka K. Nurminen; Linda Mannila

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5

Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI

Leo Leppänen^*
, Lili Aunimo
, Arto Hellas
, Jukka K. Nurminen
, Linda Mannila

^*Tämän työn vastaava kirjoittaja

University of Helsinki
Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli kirjassa/konferenssijulkaisussa › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › vertaisarvioitu

2 Sitaatiot (Scopus)

Abstrakti

The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 caused activity and concern in academic and educational communities. Some consider the technology’s ability to generate human-like text that passes at least cursory inspections for factual accuracy “often enough” a golden age for information retrieval and computer-assisted learning. Others, on the other hand, worry that the new tools may lead to offloading of cognitive tasks and unprecedented levels of academic dishonesty. In this work, we quantify some of the effects of the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) on online education by analyzing a multi-year dataset of student essay responses from a free university-level MOOC on AI ethics. Our dataset includes essays submitted both before and after the release of ChatGPT. We find that the launch of ChatGPT coincided with notable changes in both the length and style of student essays, mirroring observations in other contexts such as academic publishing.

Alkuperäiskieli	Englanti
Otsikko	Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings
Toimittajat	Alexandra I. Cristea, Erin Walker, Yu Lu, Olga C. Santos, Seiji Isotani
Kustantaja	Springer
Sivut	36-43
Sivumäärä	8
ISBN (painettu)	978-3-031-98464-8
DOI - pysyväislinkit	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5
Tila	Julkaistu - 2025
OKM-julkaisutyyppi	A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
Tapahtuma	International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education - Palermo, Italia Kesto: 22 heinäk. 2025 → 26 heinäk. 2025 Konferenssinumero: 26

Julkaisusarja

Nimi	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Vuosikerta	15882 LNAI
ISSN (painettu)	0302-9743
ISSN (elektroninen)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education
Lyhennettä	AIED
Maa/Alue	Italia
Kaupunki	Palermo
Ajanjakso	22/07/2025 → 26/07/2025

Pääsy asiakirjaan

10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/626517

Muut tiedostot ja linkit

Linkki julkaisuun Scopuksessa

Siteeraa tätä

Leppänen, L., Aunimo, L., Hellas, A., Nurminen, J. K., & Mannila, L. (2025). Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI. teoksessa A. I. Cristea, E. Walker, Y. Lu, O. C. Santos, & S. Isotani (Toimittajat), Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings (Sivut 36-43). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vuosikerta 15882 LNAI). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5

Leppänen, Leo ; Aunimo, Lili ; Hellas, Arto et al. / Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI. Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. Toimittaja / Alexandra I. Cristea ; Erin Walker ; Yu Lu ; Olga C. Santos ; Seiji Isotani. Springer, 2025. Sivut 36-43 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

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title = "Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI",

abstract = "The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 caused activity and concern in academic and educational communities. Some consider the technology{\textquoteright}s ability to generate human-like text that passes at least cursory inspections for factual accuracy “often enough” a golden age for information retrieval and computer-assisted learning. Others, on the other hand, worry that the new tools may lead to offloading of cognitive tasks and unprecedented levels of academic dishonesty. In this work, we quantify some of the effects of the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) on online education by analyzing a multi-year dataset of student essay responses from a free university-level MOOC on AI ethics. Our dataset includes essays submitted both before and after the release of ChatGPT. We find that the launch of ChatGPT coincided with notable changes in both the length and style of student essays, mirroring observations in other contexts such as academic publishing.",

keywords = "Large language models, MOOCs, Student essays",

author = "Leo Lepp{\"a}nen and Lili Aunimo and Arto Hellas and Nurminen, \{Jukka K.\} and Linda Mannila",

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doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5\_5",

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Leppänen, L, Aunimo, L, Hellas, A, Nurminen, JK & Mannila, L 2025, Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI. julkaisussa AI Cristea, E Walker, Y Lu, OC Santos & S Isotani (toim), Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vuosikerta 15882 LNAI, Springer, Sivut 36-43, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, Palermo, Italia, 22/07/2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5

Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI. / Leppänen, Leo; Aunimo, Lili; Hellas, Arto et al.
Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. toim. / Alexandra I. Cristea; Erin Walker; Yu Lu; Olga C. Santos; Seiji Isotani. Springer, 2025. s. 36-43 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vuosikerta 15882 LNAI).

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli kirjassa/konferenssijulkaisussa › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › vertaisarvioitu

TY - GEN

T1 - Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI

AU - Leppänen, Leo

AU - Aunimo, Lili

AU - Hellas, Arto

AU - Nurminen, Jukka K.

AU - Mannila, Linda

N1 - Conference code: 26

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 caused activity and concern in academic and educational communities. Some consider the technology’s ability to generate human-like text that passes at least cursory inspections for factual accuracy “often enough” a golden age for information retrieval and computer-assisted learning. Others, on the other hand, worry that the new tools may lead to offloading of cognitive tasks and unprecedented levels of academic dishonesty. In this work, we quantify some of the effects of the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) on online education by analyzing a multi-year dataset of student essay responses from a free university-level MOOC on AI ethics. Our dataset includes essays submitted both before and after the release of ChatGPT. We find that the launch of ChatGPT coincided with notable changes in both the length and style of student essays, mirroring observations in other contexts such as academic publishing.

AB - The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 caused activity and concern in academic and educational communities. Some consider the technology’s ability to generate human-like text that passes at least cursory inspections for factual accuracy “often enough” a golden age for information retrieval and computer-assisted learning. Others, on the other hand, worry that the new tools may lead to offloading of cognitive tasks and unprecedented levels of academic dishonesty. In this work, we quantify some of the effects of the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) on online education by analyzing a multi-year dataset of student essay responses from a free university-level MOOC on AI ethics. Our dataset includes essays submitted both before and after the release of ChatGPT. We find that the launch of ChatGPT coincided with notable changes in both the length and style of student essays, mirroring observations in other contexts such as academic publishing.

KW - Large language models

KW - MOOCs

KW - Student essays

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DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

AN - SCOPUS:105012028897

SN - 978-3-031-98464-8

T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science

SP - 36

EP - 43

BT - Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings

A2 - Cristea, Alexandra I.

A2 - Walker, Erin

A2 - Lu, Yu

A2 - Santos, Olga C.

A2 - Isotani, Seiji

PB - Springer

T2 - International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education

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ER -

Leppänen L, Aunimo L, Hellas A, Nurminen JK, Mannila L. Emergence of LLMs: (Not-so-)Significant Delving in Essay Answers in a MOOC on the Ethics of AI. julkaisussa Cristea AI, Walker E, Lu Y, Santos OC, Isotani S, toimittajat, Artificial Intelligence in Education - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. Springer. 2025. s. 36-43. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_5