CHATGPT IN TEACHING AND STUDYING ESP COURSE IN HEIS: OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS

The article examines the opportunities and threats of using ChatGPT in teaching and studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in higher education institutions of Ukraine.The relevance of the topic is grounded, as today ChatGPT is one of the widely applicable AI-based tools, opening new avenues for studying and offering a dynamic, interactive, and accessible approach to acquiring new skills and knowledge.Various difficulties in terms of teaching ESP have been distinguished and analysed.The author investigates how ChatGPT might help in developing ESP teaching materials, creating appropriate assignments, and giving tailored feedback aligned with students' CEFR competency levels.The results of the study based on the comprehensive analysis show that ChatGPT can provide interaction and immediate feedback, facilitate more engaging and interactive educational environments, and revolutionize personalized learning of students, making foreign language learning more effective, individualized, and entertaining.It has also been stated that ChatGPT reduces teachers' workload in material development and assessment design.Despite strengths and possibilities offered by ChatGPT, the research highlights limitations and risks associated with integrating this tool into teaching and studying ESP.The author categorizes threats from applying ChatGPT as linguistic, pedagogical, and ethical concerns.Such threats and concerns about using ChatGPT as misuse of linguistic patterns and omitting intricate grammatical constructions, reduction of human interaction, communicative exchanges and intercultural experience, and academic integrity violation have been featured and analysed.It has also been noted that for learning or teaching other foreign languages ChatGPT provides less relevant and accurate outcomes, unnatural sentences and responses.The research highlights the necessity of developing clear methodological frameworks and ethical guidelines for using ChatGPT in ESP teaching.It is concluded that ChatGPT should be viewed as a supplementary tool alongside traditional methods and human interaction, providing a balance between using new technologies, human 12(20) 2025 34 linguistic proficiency, and cultural peculiarities needed for foreign language acquisition.