CHALLENGES, POTENTIALS AND ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CHATGPT USAGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Since its launch in 2022, ChatGPT has changed the dynamics of world in general and education in particular due to its transformative potential. A debate is ongoing in the academic realms about benefits, challenges and ethical implications of ChatGPT. Within this context, the current study aims to review the latest academic debates in the extant literature on the perceptions about the usage of ChatGPT in the realms of education, its potentials, challenges and ethical implications.  We collected 39 published articles on ChatGPT from January 2023 July 2025 appeared in peered reviewed journals. Our purpose was to critical review and synthesize the potentials, challenges and ethical implications of the ChatGPT usage in higher education settings. The findings suggest that usage and acceptance of ChatGPT among teachers and learners has become widespread in the spheres of higher education. The benefits of using ChatGPT in higher education are personalized and immediate learning, language skill enhancement, content creation, facilitating engagement, providing writing support and feedback. ChatGPT can empower students and their learning experiences. The potential threats associated with the use of ChatGPT in higher education are plagiarism and cheating, algorithm biases, privacy issues, spread of false and incorrect information, academic integrity and hindering of critical thinking skills among the educators and learners. The study concludes that while AI-driven technology and ChatGPT cannot be avoided in the higher education settings, the higher education institutions and policy makers should design a clear policy about ChatGPT usage in higher education. The study advocates for strategies to epitomize ChatGPT integration into educational settings. Training of the faculty on sustained basis and awareness raising among the students about the ethical and responsible usage of this new technological reality can be an effective approach to avoid the pitfalls of ChatGPT. Future studies can examine the challenges faced by higher education institutions in policy implementation on ChatGPT usage in higher education institutions.