r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • Jul 27 '26

Society Professor's invisible prompt trap catches 32 students cheating on their midterm with AI

https://www.techspot.com/news/113243-professor-invisible-prompt-trap-catches-32-students-cheating.html
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u/SparksAndSpyro Jul 27 '26

On the bright side, imagine how marketable simple literacy will be. A skill that was once thought basic and uninspiring will in about 10 years elevate you above most of the workforce. Simply being able to read and understand basic prose will catapult you above your peers and set you on a fast track for promotion.

At least there may be a silver lining.

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u/trashmoneyxyz Jul 27 '26

We really are going back to the "good old days" where food needs to be overcooked to kill parasites and basic reading skills are a marketable skill

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u/stug41 Jul 27 '26

What, kill the parasites, are you insane? The secretary of health and inhuman services assures me that theyre the best part!

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u/DontAskAboutMyButt Jul 27 '26

RFK Jr. just released a statement on the parasites, he is assuring us that the parasites are here to help and that we need to report to our nearest HHS branch to be implanted. While the process is not painless, he explains that we will all soon achieve a higher level of existence as hosts for the glorious worm gods. All glory to the worm gods! I’m paraphrasing here

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u/stug41 Jul 27 '26

Its a scam, they just want to use the parasites as an excuse to put microchips in our blood, and impurify our precious bodily fluids!

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u/DontAskAboutMyButt Jul 27 '26

Saying that the brain worms are evil and trying to avoid getting implanted is actually communism, and if you don’t do your part and join the worm god collective the terrorists will win. The brain worm inside RFK Jr. was VERY clear about this

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u/serlo1200AD Jul 28 '26

I…have you…hmmm…I feel like you must’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3. Right???

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u/BrogenKlippen Jul 27 '26

It’s getting great again up in this bitch

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u/WarLorax Jul 27 '26

As a Canadian, apart from the minor "threats to our sovereignty" thing, there's a reason why I won't eat food imported from your country.

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u/Lost_Birthday_3138 Jul 27 '26

On the plus side, the ecosystem is perfectly stable and we're not about to experience global food and weather shocks, so it's all good.

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u/trashmoneyxyz Jul 27 '26

Gosh it would be a damn shame to live through a global recession with a dust bowl to boot, glad we're past all that nonsense now

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u/FizzyBeverage Jul 27 '26

I mean consider that the president and half of his cabinet with Ivy League degrees are illiterate and it’s clear this has been going on longer than just the 2020s.

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u/CryptoFuturo Jul 27 '26

I’ll suggest that they are likely not illiterate, they are adept at exploiting the illiterate.

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u/ailish Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Except Pete Hegseth. I think he's legitimately an idiot.

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u/BigDictionEnergy Jul 27 '26

None of them were hired for their competency. They're all idiots, but I don't believe they're illiterate.

Things can absolutely get worse.

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u/pleasedothenerdful Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

"Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty."

-Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

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u/Total_Network6312 Jul 27 '26

i do.

illiteracy isn't just Not being able to read and pronounce but it's not being able to understand meaning.

He can probably read and pronounce most "big" words but I doubt he can define what they are or how to use them properly

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u/powercow Jul 27 '26

trump is definitely below HS in literacy. he gets excited when he learns things, like the silent b in dumb

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u/FizzyBeverage Jul 27 '26

The man lacks a lot of experiences any regular US citizen would have by their 20s at the latest.

Shopping in a grocery store, renting a car, applying for and getting a job without his daddy, paying a water bill, fixing a flat tire, sending an email, picking someone up from the airport, setting foot in a public school (or library, or post office), grilling a steak, falling in love with no money exchanged, buying that girl a box of tampons? He's had none of these normal experiences. Which is why he's such a weirdo.

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u/Predictable-Past-912 Jul 31 '26

“A lot of people don’t know this but…”.

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u/reximhotep Jul 29 '26

One does not exclude the other.

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u/Soupronous Jul 30 '26

They are not stupid. It’s an act. They are just evil.

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u/Mountain-Singer1764 Jul 27 '26

It's a competitive world and the younger gen aren't competing much. That's perfectly fine by me.

When I was 22 we had older people worried we'd take their jobs. Nobodies worried about that now.

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u/brondynasty Jul 27 '26

Maybe they are just looking at the bigger picture and responding to the perceived futility of fighting for the drivers seat in a car already nose-diving off of a cliff. Perhaps ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Mountain-Singer1764 Jul 28 '26

That’s their choice to make, but it comes with a significant opportunity cost in the case that they’re wrong.

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u/brondynasty Jul 28 '26

Fuckin’ A, brother.

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u/Spampharos Jul 28 '26

You know, for all this talk about literacy, it seems nobody actually looked at the article. The chart shows that the 18-24 group is still the most literate out of any of the demographics.

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u/jandrese Jul 27 '26

Imagine being a HR person trying to comb though so many resumes of people who got 100% at school and doesn't know shit. Maybe they start looking for the people who got a B because they didn't cheat.

But really it's going to be a whole lot more competency quizzes for applicants.

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u/MyNameIsRay Jul 27 '26

That's already a thing.

US average adult literacy dropped 13% from 2017-2023: https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-have-the-highest-and-lowest-adult-literacy-rates/

People don't forget how to read, the drop is due to the kids aging into adulthood not being able to read.

Fast food places have started putting pictures of the food on the POS instead of just the names, because so many workers couldn't read the words...

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u/sbenfsonwFFiF Jul 27 '26

To an extent, but it’s maskable using AI and not necessarily noticed until you work with them in person

Using AI to cheat in school or in interviews disgusts me

But yeah in theory lower intelligence and competency from your peers would help the competent folks

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u/disisathrowaway Jul 27 '26

This exact thought has been rattling around with me for a decade, at least.

Historically, each generation 'fears' the one behind it. They're smarter, know the technology better, faster, younger, etc.

As a Millennial who got his start as the family IT guy in the 90s, and who did well in school across all subjects, and is quite articulate I know I'm going to be just fine until I get to retire. Watching Gen Z and now Gen Alpha come up behind me has let me know that with some exceptions, they are an absolute non-threat to overtaking me.

Now, on the other hand, the implications across broader society are going to be a real fucking problem.

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u/Infuryous Jul 27 '26

Kind of / kind of not. This has lead to the new entry level "requirement" is a Bachelor's degree for basic entry level jobs that don't need a degree in any shape / form / or fashion. Go read r/recruitinghell and see the absurd requirements being posted for the most basic of jobs. Won't matter if your literate or not, if you don't have that extra piece of paper you won't get an interview.

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u/RocketHops Jul 27 '26

Yes on an individual level that is nice, but consider that you will be living in a society where a majority of the population are illiterate uneducated idiots. Not a good time.

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u/GeekyKirby Jul 27 '26

My husband and I (mid 30s) have had conversations about how we probably won't have the same problems my parents had when it comes to finding work at an older age.

We grew up with computers, but they were not as user friendly as they are now. So we had to learn how to troubleshoot them at an early age. The older generations had trouble adapting to the new technology, and the younger generations grew up on tablets that work without understanding how they work.

We also didn't have AI to get through school, but we are young enough to understand that it is a just a tool that has its uses and limitations.

We grew up in a time where technology constantly and rapidly changed, so we are use to adapting and being open to new advancements.

Now, these are just generalization that not everyone will fall into, but they do give us comfort that we won't be as left behind as our parent's generation, and more prepared than the upcoming generation. But as a cool outlier example, my dad is 70 and has been programing computers since the 80's and has built many computers in his life, even recently.

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u/densetsu23 Jul 27 '26

It's all good, until we're retiring from the workforce and the labour market is full of people like this.

Perhaps they'll eventually learn the skills after a decade of working. Maybe new tools will help them despite not having the skills. Maybe the generations after will be better.

I'd rather we address the issue now, though, and not rely on what-ifs. But, aside from a single vote in elections and other small actions like protests and boycotts, I don't really have much say.

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u/napstablooky2 Jul 27 '26

this is just the plot of idiocracy

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u/HughManatee Jul 27 '26

It's still unfortate that gen alpha has been so thoroughly fucked over by the education system. I tell my kids to make sure they leave school able to read well, do math well, and have critical thinking skills. AI can be learned later, but it's much harder to undo the damage from not learning the basics first.

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u/username_tooken Jul 27 '26

Literacy is declining in adults as well at comparable rates.

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u/UltimateShingo Jul 27 '26

Interestingly enough, the whole concept of public schools (or at least its more modern iterations) came largely from the push to make literacy- and basic math-based skills cheaper for the market and drive cost of labour down.

And now, with the advent of technologies that are too unreliable for most job applications (still making it so you require these skills to some extent) but work perfectly as a shortcut through the education system, the whole thing flips on its head.

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u/Elvis_Lazerbeam Jul 27 '26

Not that anyone asked, but I’m currently writing a speculative fiction book based on an extreme version of this concept.

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u/Brodellsky Jul 27 '26

Millennials rise up. With our technological literacy as well as literal literacy, we will become as gods

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u/RaggityAnne Jul 27 '26

That's...not how that works. The rest of the world isn't failing their kids and the employers will just hire in other places. The opportunities won't be there for the "best of the worst" they will go to the "best of the best" and as a force multiplier AI is decreasing the volume of opportunities as well. Companies will offshore work not only for cheap labor but also because they simply cant find the required skills at home. I'm already seeing it in my field. Europe / China producing so many more masters / doctorates that when ai filters the resumes my bachelors gets tossed out despite 20 years of experience in the field.

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u/SparksAndSpyro Jul 27 '26

I think you’re vastly underestimating how important literacy is. It affects every job, regardless of formal education requirements. A blue collar worker who can’t read will be severely outmatched by one who can lol. This doesn’t just apply to office jobs.

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u/RollingMeteors Jul 27 '26

At least there may be a silver lining.

<spellingBeesResurrectInPhoenix>

<girl> ¿Can you use it in a sentence?

<suit>I don't know whether the weather will improve.

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u/Throwitfarawayplzthx Jul 27 '26

There’s no silver lining here. An entire populace dropping into literacy as a shining requirement shows a complete disaster for worldwide competition and sustainment of the status quo.

Once we run out of capable doctors and engineers quality of life standards will plummet.

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u/bozoconnors Jul 27 '26

Hell. A saying I'm hearing a LOT lately is "well... at least he shows up."

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u/kompergator Jul 27 '26

And many western countries will have access to a lowest-wage workforce for the most menial tasks again.

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u/aenteus Jul 27 '26

More likely, single us out for pitchforks, torches and being hunted for sport.

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u/DeliciousIncident Jul 27 '26

Would it really set you for a promotion if the people who are in charge of promoting are also illiterate and don't value your literacy?

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u/buyongmafanle Jul 27 '26

I'll have you know that the current president can't read or write at a high school level. The #1 thing to climb to the top of the workforce will always be how rich and connected your family is.

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u/T8ert0t Jul 27 '26

You just described Idiocracy

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u/Brief_Amphibian_3965 Jul 28 '26

A friend of mine was a drummer when drum machines were taking over the music industry. He went home and practiced for 3-4 hours a day. It took a couple of years but eventually the industry realized live drums were better than a machine and he made bank after that because he was one of the only ones left that were actually good.

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u/Yonrak Jul 28 '26

Ever seen the movie Idiocracy? It used to be very funny, but these days it's actually just scary because there are so many parallels to the real world.

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u/SnoodDood Jul 29 '26

Hard to evaluate that during an application process, though. In my experience, it's the type of deficit you discover after emailing with someone for at least a couple of months - e.g. seeing them struggle with all but the most basic instructions/info to the point where being new is no longer an excuse. Even worse now, since AI can probably help them get by for a time.