Professor Says 32 Students Used AI
A college professor says he designed a deliberate trap to identify students who used artificial intelligence to complete their midterm exams, and the results surprised him.
Professor Jason Gibson recently discussed his experience with Stay Tuned NOW, explaining how he caught 32 of 35 students using AI on their midterm exams. Rather than relying only on AI detection software, Gibson said he designed the exam in a way that would expose students who turned to artificial intelligence for answers. The approach was intended to make it more difficult for students to simply submit AI generated responses without revealing that they had done so. The result was striking. According to Gibson, 32 of the 35 students in the class were identified as having used AI during the exam.
A Growing Challenge for Colleges
The situation highlights a growing problem facing colleges and universities as AI tools become increasingly accessible to students. Programs such as ChatGPT can generate essays, answer questions, summarize information and help students work through complex assignments within seconds. While those tools can have legitimate educational uses, professors have also raised concerns about students using them to complete work that is supposed to demonstrate their own knowledge. For instructors, determining whether a student actually completed an assignment independently has become increasingly difficult.
The AI Detection Problem
Traditional AI detection tools have also faced criticism because they are not considered perfectly reliable. AI generated text can sometimes be incorrectly flagged, while sophisticated use of AI can be difficult to detect.
That has pushed some professors to focus less on trying to identify the exact technology a student used and more on designing assignments and exams that make unauthorized AI assistance easier to recognize. Gibson’s approach is an example of that shift.
What the Experiment Reveals
The fact that 32 of 35 students were identified is significant because it suggests that AI use may be far more widespread in classrooms than some educators realize.
At the same time, identifying suspected AI use does not automatically establish academic misconduct in every case. Colleges and universities generally have their own policies governing acceptable AI use, evidence requirements and disciplinary procedures. The larger issue is how schools can adapt as artificial intelligence becomes a routine part of everyday life.
Education Enters a New AI Era
Professors are now being forced to rethink everything from take home essays to traditional exams. Some educators are returning to handwritten work, oral examinations, in person assignments and more personalized questions designed to make outside assistance harder to use. Others are choosing to teach students how to use AI responsibly rather than banning it outright.
Gibson’s experience demonstrates just how quickly the relationship between students, professors and artificial intelligence is changing. What once looked like a tool that could simply be prohibited is increasingly becoming a technology educators have to account for in the classroom.
For colleges, the challenge is no longer simply determining whether students are using AI. It is figuring out how to preserve academic integrity while preparing students for a world where AI is likely to be part of nearly every profession.
