Listen to the episodes

• Episode 1: Piek Vossen – Hoe werkt ChatGPT eigenlijk? (“How does ChatGPT work?”)

  In this first episode we dive straight in and learn all about the large language models behind ChatGPT. Our guest is Piek Vossen, professor of Computation Lexicology at the Faculty of Humanities of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Piek explain how the language models behind ChatGPT work and how these have developed in the last years and decades. What is ChatGPT good at and what kinds of things should you not ask the programme to do? We also talk about what the availability of these tools means for how we assess students. And are AI detectors going to be any help to us?

  • Listen to this episode with Piek Vossen on Spotify.
  • Read the Dutch transcript.
  • Read the English translation.

• Episode 2: Christine Moser – Moeten studenten nog wel leren schrijven? (“Should students still learn to write?”)

  In the second episode, we look at the central role that writing skills have in university programmes. Our guest is Christine Moser, associate professor of Organization Theory at the School of Business and Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. We talk about what it is that students need to learn at university and whether written assignments are always the best way to test students’ skills and knowledge. But we also talk about the other skills that are trained through writing and why writing is worthwile in and of itself.

  • Listen to this episode with Christine Moser on Spotify.
  • Read the Dutch transcript.
  • Read the English translation.

• Episode 3: Hilde van Zeeland – Writefull (of: AI is meer dan ChatGPT) (“Writefull – or: AI is more than ChatGPT”)

  In this third episode we look beyond ChatGPT, because Artificial Intelligence of course is more than just ChatGPT. Our guest is Hilde van Zeeland, applied linguist at Writefull. Writefull is an AI-based automatic text corrector. We talk about how Writefull can help students (and researchers!) to write their texts and in what ways it is different from ChatGPT. Hilde also speaks about the pilot that Writefull has done together with the VU. And what’s so special about the language of academic texts?

  • Listen to this episode with Hilde van Zeeland on Spotify.
  • Read the Dutch transcript.
  • Read the English translation.

Contact the Academic Language Programme