AI cheating tests Korean universities as schools struggle to keep up

Last week, a Konkuk University student was caught cheating on a midterm exam by sending questions through a hidden chest camera to a friend, who solved them with AI and sent the answers to the student’s smartwatch. 

The professor said they grew suspicious when the student earned a perfect score and called the student in to solve the same problems again in a controlled environment. The student failed to write the answers properly and confessed after being questioned, according to the professor’s notice. 

As cheating methods on college campuses continue to evolve — and education authorities still relying only on catching cheaters after the fact — calls are growing for fundamental countermeasures. 

“Because it was found that the student cheated by writing the answers using AI and a smartwatch, the professor in charge gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the class in accordance with regulations,” the university said. The department has since decided to ban all types of cameras and watches from the final exam onward and to inspect eyeglasses.

Several AI-assisted cheating cases surfaced in university exams last year as well, with students using generative AI during large online exams or tests that allowed laptops or classroom computers.

This year, three cases of cheating using AI-powered smart glasses have been uncovered so far in essay exams administered by individual universities for early college admissions. 

The spate of cheating that exploits advanced technology has been attributed to a structural gap in which ethical awareness and institutional systems have failed to keep pace with technological development. “While technology is developing explosively, from the popularization of AI to the miniaturization of various wearable devices, the ethical awareness and related systems to support it are severely lacking,” said Lee Chan-gyu, director of the Institute of Humanities and AI Research at Chung-Ang University.

Education authorities, however, still rely heavily on exam proctors catching cheaters after the fact. The Ministry of Education sent an official letter on Thursday to the country’s metropolitan and provincial education offices and universities asking them to ban smart glasses at College Scholastic Ability Test — Korea’s national college entrance exam — sites and to strengthen supervision.

“Devices and technologies that are hard to catch even with detectors are already on the market, and it’s unfortunate that we keep hoping proctors will identify them with the naked eye,” said a science and engineering professor at a university in the greater Seoul area.

Experts stressed the need for fundamental countermeasures that go beyond one-off measures banning individual items such as glasses and watches.

“It is only a matter of time before new technologies that surpass even advanced detection equipment emerge,” Lee said. “It is time to consider a paradigm shift in assessment methods so that the ‘process’ itself can be evaluated, just as major academic societies have recently required researchers to submit research notes documenting the research process when submitting papers.”

“Education authorities should refine common guidelines and reorganize the system, and universities should take effective measures such as making AI ethics education mandatory for students,” said Kim Myuhng-joo, executive director of Korea AI Safety Institute and a professor at Seoul Women’s University.

BY LEE BO-RAM [[email protected]]