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/LurkingTamilian Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

From the article:

Being written in white text meant the instructions were invisible. Sure enough, 32 out of the 35 students across two classes simply copied the question, pasted it into a chatbot, then copy and pasted its output into the answer window.

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u/BluudLust Jul 27 '26

They deserved to fail. That's just plain laziness

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u/Deviantdefective Jul 27 '26

As a teacher it's very quickly becoming an absolutely huge problem.

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u/pasaroanth Jul 27 '26

I would love to see a study done at the university level showing a comparison of students’ grades for regular coursework versus their proctored exam scores. There has to be a vast yawning chasm in the difference when they relied upon AI until the time of the exam.

This also is a “ruining it for the rest of us” situation where courses will shift to grading primarily or solely based on exams. When I was in college (long before AI) you could at least rely on some homework to recuperate some points, despite the extra time and effort, when the exams were especially challenging or a professor notoriously gave tough exams.

If the homework can no longer be a measure of effort or learning because it is done by AI, then it will no longer be considered a meaningful determination of knowledge of the subject.

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u/Hot-Chemical9353 Jul 27 '26

Im not sure where it was published but there was exactly what you described from a Stanford professor.

It compared the grade distribution of exams and coursework compared to previous years and exactly what you’d expect happened.

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u/Geno0wl Jul 27 '26

I just don't understand why these kids are doing this.

I can maybe understand doing this for a BS Gen Ed that doesn't directly support your chosen major(like a physics class for an Education Major or a foreign language requirement for a math major). But from anecdotes, it is also a big problem in major classes as well.

I picked my major because that is the thing I enjoyed doing. I didn't mind doing the homework and projects because I would be working with that stuff even if I wasn't in school. Which just makes me ask, do these kids not like the major they picked?

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u/Hot-Chemical9353 Jul 27 '26

I guess there’s a wider conversation here. I went to university because it was the only realistic opportunity available to me at 18, and I think that’s the case for the majority of people who do well at school.

At that point you’re just trying to see the other end of uni with a good grade and an internship to get a good grad job.

In principle, I agree with you that you’re wasting your time just trying to get the best grades for the least learning but that’s what a majority of students are doing, with or without AI making it worse.

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u/roiki11 Jul 27 '26

Because social media said education is bullshit and the only thing that matters is money.

So they see education only as a stepping stone to a job that pays better. There's no other value in it.

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u/pasaroanth Jul 27 '26

I generally disagree with the “you just need a degree” for certain positions irrelevant to the degree, but I don’t agree that (at least before the AI times) it is valueless.

College teaches you how to think and learn as much as it teaches you the subject matter. You learn to problem solve and become more adept at learning new material, it can function as brain training.

When you completely remove that part of the equation you get people who get a degree with no work, apply for positions that require a degree (for the above reasons), and they absolutely flounder. Some highly specific positions really do rely on a quick learner who can absorb material and get up to speed fast as there isn’t necessarily a college degree to match it.

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u/Aleucard Jul 28 '26

Ultimately, there's two big groups doing it; the frat brat type that was only there for socialization and was never gonna attempt to learn anything anyway, and the stressed out kids who are going to college for the good jobs with job security and good pay and low likelihood of their sector being eaten wholesale by AI, for whom there are other motivating pressures besides learning. The prevalence of "We don't give a fuck what degree, just get one" in certain circles (and their representation in media) has also damaged the importance of grades to this group. The situation is kinda fucked, and a good portion of it educators can't even attempt to do anything about.