A series of cheating incidents involving smart glasses equipped with AI features have been reported during essay-based university entrance exams. Yonsei University caught an applicant wearing smart glasses during an exam on Oct. 10, while the University of Seoul detected another applicant using the device on Oct. 3. The photo shows a man wearing smart glasses on display at an electronics store in Seoul on Oct. 14.YONHAP
Park Kyung-ryul
The author is a professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy.
Outside my window, tree branches sway gently in the autumn breeze. I am waiting for exam papers from students in my "Science, Technology and Future Society" course. Several semesters have passed since I replaced take-home exams with handwritten tests and oral examinations. It had become increasingly difficult to assess students' thinking through assignments completed at home. Today, AI can produce a plausible answer to almost any question within seconds.
Two things have surprised me during these written examinations. First, students struggle to express their thoughts in writing despite their considerable knowledge and presentation skills. Second, some students' handwriting is remarkably difficult to decipher.
I do not blame them. Rather, I feel sympathy. Perhaps those of us who grew up painstakingly writing in notebooks and repeatedly drafting and deleting sentences on computer screens should feel grateful. Time moved slowly then, and the very process of adding, removing and revising words was a journey of questioning and reflection.
AI now takes away much of that space for contemplation, delivering overwhelming amounts of information in seconds. In an age of information overload, I worry that a generation required to compete and collaborate not only with other people but also with technology may lose even the motivation to read and write.
This concern is more than speculation. Last year, researchers at MIT analyzed brain activity while people wrote essays. They found that participants using large language models such as ChatGPT showed weaker connectivity between brain regions than those who wrote independently. The researchers called this "cognitive debt." Relying on external tools for judgment can ultimately undermine our ability to understand and think for ourselves. Writing is not merely a means of expressing thoughts. It is an essential part of the human thinking process itself.
Soon, the exam papers will arrive. I already look forward to reading the different perspectives expressed in each student's distinctive handwriting and discussing their ideas together.
Perhaps my role as a teacher is simply to be the breeze that occasionally stirs the branches as they grow in different directions. I must avoid shaking them so hard that they break while helping them develop stronger roots.
That gentle breeze comes through asking questions and engaging in discussion. Even in an age when AI provides answers, asking questions remains our most important responsibility.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
