With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, ChatGPT, as an advanced natural language processing model, has shown great application potential in the field of higher education. In the field of higher education, ChatGPT not only plays an important role in promoting education and teaching, personnel training, scientific research and production, and evaluation management, but also the technological breakthrough and innovation behind it will promote the process of digital transformation of education. At the same time, the intervention of ChatGPT can not only fully activate students’ interest in learning but also effectively cultivate their independent learning ability and lifelong learning awareness, so that they can better adapt to future social development. In this regard, this paper first describes the application advantages of ChatGPT in the field of higher education, and then analyzes the challenges faced by the application of ChatGPT in the field of higher education, and finally puts forward effective application paths, in order to provide some references for relevant education researchers.