Associated Incidents
-- I have been quoted and misinterpreted before, but I have never experienced being quoted on something I have never written, says Professor Thomas Nordahl at the University of the Inland to [the Tromsø newspaper.]
The newspaper has reviewed the source list for the municipality's proposal for a new kindergarten and school structure, in which eight schools are proposed to be closed.
Of 18 entries, only seven could be traced.
The municipal director of Tromsø, Stig Tore Johnsen, clarifies to NRKthat it is people who have written the knowledge base, but admits that they have used AI as an aid.
-- I never wrote that
The working group behind the proposal refers, among other things, to a book Thomas Nordahl is said to have written in 2018, "Quality in School: Learning, Satisfaction and Relationships", published by Cappelen Damm. That book does not exist.
-- I suspect they may have used ChatGPT or another robot, and not quality assured what came out, Nordahl tells VG.
Professor of education, Peder Haug, thought the same thing. He is quoted from the book "Inclusion and quality in kindergarten and school", which he is supposed to have published in 2024.
-- I never wrote it, says Haug, who just happened to have published the book "Inclusion" in 2014.
-- If that book is to be used as an argument for closing down or centralizing schools, then it is going incredibly far. If it is to be used, it almost has to be as an argument for the opposite, says the professor.
Stopping the process
Now the municipal director of Tromsø has decided to stop the consultation process for the proposal for six months.
-- We have been going through what is emerging all day, and have discovered many of the same errors. This is something we deeply regret. Such errors should not happen, says Johansen in a press release.
At the same time, he emphasizes that the work on the new kindergarten and school structure will continue.
-- There is still a need for this even if this particular process is withdrawn, he said at a meeting with the press on Thursday afternoon.
Project manager for the work on the new school structure in Tromsø Municipality, Arne Christian Vangdal, says that they are trying to find out what has happened and will come back with a more complete answer when they have done so.
-- The first major AI scandal
Researcher Jonas Stein calls the case an administrative scandal.
-- Nothing less than perhaps the first major AI scandal in the Norwegian public sector. This is classic ChatGPT and which keeps happening in student work, he writes on Facebook.
Stein, who works as an associate professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, believes the revelations will make it very difficult to get the school structure issue in Tromsø resolved.
-- That Tromsø municipality allows this to happen in the knowledge base of what may be the most important political issue in a decade is nothing less than an administrative scandal. It will be very interesting to see what repercussions this has, he writes.
Local community reacts
Local politicians in Tromsø react strongly to the revelations.
-- It appears to me that this chapter is written with a conclusion, and they have also been asked to substantiate the conclusion, says Barbara Vögele of the Green Party Tromsø to iTromsø.
Markus Akselbo from the Conservative Party will initiate a full review of the municipality's use of sources.
-- If it turns out that there is misuse of AI, we must look at the knowledge base for all cases in Tromsø municipality, he says.
The head of the Parents' Council (FAU) at Slettaelva School believes this creates distrust in the municipality.
-- We have been trying to understand the factual basis of the report for a long time, but it makes sense that we never understood it if it turns out to be false, says Tina Gjøvik to iTromsø.