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THE
Daily
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MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Volume 111, No. 16
The clock stops here: UM bans TikTok on WiFi and university devices ISABELLE FROST
thedmnews@gmail.com
GRAPHIC: SAVANNAH SHOOK / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
In response to a directive from Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, TikTok is now inaccessible on university WiFi and banned from being used on state-issued devices. The ban has brought about uncertainty in unlikely places such as course curricula and popular university TikTok accounts. The ban went into effect on Jan. 31. “As the state’s flagship university, we are obligated to follow state law,” UM News and Media Relations Director Jacob Batte said. The ban on TikTok usage on state-issued devices comes in the wake of a federal ban enforced in early January. Republican Mississippi State Rep. Becky Currie introduced a bill on Jan. 26 to further codify Reeves’ order into state law. Reeves cited concerns over privacy and security as justification for the ban. Although parent compa-
ny ByteDance claims that they would never share user data with the Chinese government, employees of the company located in China have access to app data from U.S. users. “It’s no secret that the Chinese Communist Party is actively trying to steal U.S. intellectual property and Americans’ personal information. … Mississippi isn’t going to sit around waiting for the Chinese Communist Party to steal our state government data,” Reeves said. Proponents of the ban fear that the Chinese government could access U.S. user data and possibly spy on and control U.S. phones, and the FBI has corroborated this. As many young people are increasingly exposed to political views on TikTok, analysts are especially concerned that the Chinese government could utilize the app to dispense propaganda. Banning TikTok alone might be putting a bandage on a bullet
SEE TIKTOK PAGE 2
Ole Miss’ AI Task Force embraces AI in the classroom HAL FOX
thedmnews@gmail.com
ChatGPT continues to exceed expectations for artificial intelligence language generators as educators across the country struggle to adjust to the new, AI-enhanced educational climate. ChatGPT is a large language model released by the artificial intelligence company OpenAI in late November 2022. By entering a series of simple prompts, anyone can generate pages and pages of written text. Students across the country have been using ChatGPT to write their essays and help them do their homework. Some educators fear that essay writing will become a thing of the past, but others are more optimistic about the future of AI in education. Marc Watkins, a lecturer
in composition and rhetoric in UM’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric, has been using artificial intelligence tools in his classes and is optimistic about the future of AI in education. He recently wrote an article in Inside Higher Ed about how ChatGPT will impact education and the world. “I think large language models like GPT-3 and ChatGPT can benefit students, if they are employed carefully and openly. Students can likely use the technology to augment their existing writing and research skills,” Watkins said. “Some of the apps we used with students in the fall, like Elicit and Fermat, are geared towards helping students brainstorm and use those
SEE AI PAGE 3
GRAPHIC: LIBBY FLANAGAN / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN