More students are using AI tools to help them with their studies and work. However, The Guardian reports thousands of university students in the United Kingdom have been caught cheating and misusing ChatGPT in recent years.
Confirmed AI misuse on the rise
During the 2023–24 academic year, there were almost 7,000 confirmed cases of students cheating with AI, according to The Guardian’s investigation. That number translates to 5.1 cases per 1,000 students—a sizable increase from the 1.6 per 1,000 students in the previous academic year.
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By May of the current academic year, the rate had already begun to rise again and is expected to reach approximately 7.5 cases per 1,000 students. Some suspect that many additional cases go undetected.
Data collection and reporting challenges
The Guardian reports that it used the UK’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to request data from 155 universities on proven cases of academic misconduct, plagiarism, and AI misconduct.
Not all universities had complete data for every year or for each type of misconduct; however, 131 universities responded with at least some data.
Over 27% of the universities that responded did not track AI misuse separately from other misconduct in the 2023–24 school year, as they may include AI-related cheating under general categories of cheating or plagiarism.
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According to research from the University of Reading, 94% of AI-created works successfully bypass AI-detection systems.
Experts say true numbers may be higher
The Guardian spoke to Dr. Peter Scarfe, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Reading, who co-authored a study on AI systems and students submitting work using AI.
“I would imagine those caught represent the tip of the iceberg. AI detection is very unlike plagiarism, where you can confirm the copied text. As a result, in a situation where you suspect the use of AI, it is near impossible to prove,” he said.
Another researcher at Imperial College London told The Guardian that student AI misuse is very hard to prove.
UK student discusses responsible use
One student said she uses AI tools to brainstorm and summarize her ideas. “One of my friends uses it, not to write any of her essays for her or research anything, but to put in her own points and structure them. She has dyslexia. She said she really benefits from it,” the student told the British newspaper.
US institutions incorporate AI tools
In the United States, the University of California, Los Angeles, announced in September that it would be the first university in the state to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT by entering an agreement with the AI company.
ChatGPT Enterprise is a specialized version of ChatGPT designed specifically for businesses or organizations, not individual users, and comes with enhanced security and faster performance.
“Generally, in higher education, AI can be used for scheduling appointments, maintaining calendars, creating customizable learning experiences, generating practice quizzes, tests and lecture notes; and assisting in research and data analysis, among other tasks,” Chris Mattmann, UCLA’s chief data and artificial intelligence officer, said in a press release.
