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A professor used white font to hide instructions to throw off students using an AI chatbot to cheat on their midterm.

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[-] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Seriously. I taught university courses for several years in the mid 2010s. I didn't have to worry about AI then, but I did have to worry about cell phones. I learned the hard way that during exams, crafty students could take pictures of the exam, upload them to chegg, and get responses back live during the exam time.

Eventually I moved to a zero-tolerance policy for all electronic devices during exams. There's no way for me to determine if someone is using a phone for cheating or something innocuous. So during exams, I simply had it as a policy that, "having a cell phone or laptop anywhere on your person or desk IS cheating and will result in an instant zero on the exam." Keep your damn phone in your bag during exams. I put this warning in my syllabus, wrote it all over the exams, and gave repeated verbal warnings to students. No one went into this surprised. The last thing I ever wanted to do was bust someone for an innocent mistake. But if I caught you with a cell phone? Even if I never saw you using it? Simply having a cell phone out of your bag during an exam is a zero.

Hell, I took this so seriously that I came up with my most evil policy ever - the bounty system. See your neighbor with their phone out? Rat them out and I'll give you ten extra credit points on this exam. They have to worry not just about where my eyes are, but the eyes of everyone else around them. That's right students, we're going full prisoner's dilemma. I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me!

[-] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 1 points 18 minutes ago

Yeah, that is what my exam experiences have been of zero tolerance for phones and sometimes laptops if exam were paper and pencil. It makes the current news now so puzzling since phones back then despite not having AI access were just as capable back then, and outside help through internet and messages was easy to get so professors back then had the same concerns of electronics being used for cheating.

Only change then and now seems like professors are not enforcing electronic restrictions as strictly anymore, and students to no surprise are taking advantage of being able to cheat out in the open.

this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2026
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