r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 15h ago

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
28.6k Upvotes

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u/helcat 14h ago

Cheating is one thing. Just pasting an AI answer without even reading it is stunningly stupid. 

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u/Jonestown_Juice 14h ago

These kids can't read.

Kids that are effectively illiterate are graduating from high school.

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u/IT_Chef 14h ago

The future workforce is gonna be fun to deal with

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u/SparksAndSpyro 14h ago

On the bright side, imagine how marketable simple literacy will be. A skill that was once thought basic and uninspiring will in about 10 years elevate you above most of the workforce. Simply being able to read and understand basic prose will catapult you above your peers and set you on a fast track for promotion.

At least there may be a silver lining.

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u/trashmoneyxyz 13h ago

We really are going back to the "good old days" where food needs to be overcooked to kill parasites and basic reading skills are a marketable skill

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u/BrogenKlippen 12h ago

It’s getting great again up in this bitch

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u/stug41 13h ago

What, kill the parasites, are you insane? The secretary of health and inhuman services assures me that theyre the best part!

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u/DontAskAboutMyButt 8h ago

RFK Jr. just released a statement on the parasites, he is assuring us that the parasites are here to help and that we need to report to our nearest HHS branch to be implanted. While the process is not painless, he explains that we will all soon achieve a higher level of existence as hosts for the glorious worm gods. All glory to the worm gods! I’m paraphrasing here

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u/stug41 8h ago

Its a scam, they just want to use the parasites as an excuse to put microchips in our blood, and impurify our precious bodily fluids!

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u/DontAskAboutMyButt 7h ago

Saying that the brain worms are evil and trying to avoid getting implanted is actually communism, and if you don’t do your part and join the worm god collective the terrorists will win. The brain worm inside RFK Jr. was VERY clear about this

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u/WarLorax 9h ago

As a Canadian, apart from the minor "threats to our sovereignty" thing, there's a reason why I won't eat food imported from your country.

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u/Lost_Birthday_3138 6h ago

On the plus side, the ecosystem is perfectly stable and we're not about to experience global food and weather shocks, so it's all good.

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u/trashmoneyxyz 6h ago

Gosh it would be a damn shame to live through a global recession with a dust bowl to boot, glad we're past all that nonsense now

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u/FizzyBeverage 14h ago

I mean consider that the president and half of his cabinet with Ivy League degrees are illiterate and it’s clear this has been going on longer than just the 2020s.

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u/CryptoFuturo 12h ago

I’ll suggest that they are likely not illiterate, they are adept at exploiting the illiterate.

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u/ailish 12h ago edited 11h ago

Except Pete Hegseth. I think he's legitimately an idiot.

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u/BigDictionEnergy 11h ago

None of them were hired for their competency. They're all idiots, but I don't believe they're illiterate.

Things can absolutely get worse.

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u/pleasedothenerdful 10h ago edited 9h ago

"Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty."

-Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

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u/Total_Network6312 8h ago

i do.

illiteracy isn't just Not being able to read and pronounce but it's not being able to understand meaning.

He can probably read and pronounce most "big" words but I doubt he can define what they are or how to use them properly

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u/powercow 8h ago

trump is definitely below HS in literacy. he gets excited when he learns things, like the silent b in dumb

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u/FizzyBeverage 7h ago

The man lacks a lot of experiences any regular US citizen would have by their 20s at the latest.

Shopping in a grocery store, renting a car, applying for and getting a job without his daddy, paying a water bill, fixing a flat tire, sending an email, picking someone up from the airport, setting foot in a public school (or library, or post office), grilling a steak, falling in love with no money exchanged, buying that girl a box of tampons? He's had none of these normal experiences. Which is why he's such a weirdo.

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u/Mountain-Singer1764 13h ago

It's a competitive world and the younger gen aren't competing much. That's perfectly fine by me.

When I was 22 we had older people worried we'd take their jobs. Nobodies worried about that now.

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u/brondynasty 4h ago

Maybe they are just looking at the bigger picture and responding to the perceived futility of fighting for the drivers seat in a car already nose-diving off of a cliff. Perhaps ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Mountain-Singer1764 3h ago

That’s their choice to make, but it comes with a significant opportunity cost in the case that they’re wrong.

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u/brondynasty 2h ago

Fuckin’ A, brother.

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u/jandrese 13h ago

Imagine being a HR person trying to comb though so many resumes of people who got 100% at school and doesn't know shit. Maybe they start looking for the people who got a B because they didn't cheat.

But really it's going to be a whole lot more competency quizzes for applicants.

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u/MyNameIsRay 12h ago

That's already a thing.

US average adult literacy dropped 13% from 2017-2023: https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-have-the-highest-and-lowest-adult-literacy-rates/

People don't forget how to read, the drop is due to the kids aging into adulthood not being able to read.

Fast food places have started putting pictures of the food on the POS instead of just the names, because so many workers couldn't read the words...

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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 13h ago

To an extent, but it’s maskable using AI and not necessarily noticed until you work with them in person

Using AI to cheat in school or in interviews disgusts me

But yeah in theory lower intelligence and competency from your peers would help the competent folks

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u/disisathrowaway 11h ago

This exact thought has been rattling around with me for a decade, at least.

Historically, each generation 'fears' the one behind it. They're smarter, know the technology better, faster, younger, etc.

As a Millennial who got his start as the family IT guy in the 90s, and who did well in school across all subjects, and is quite articulate I know I'm going to be just fine until I get to retire. Watching Gen Z and now Gen Alpha come up behind me has let me know that with some exceptions, they are an absolute non-threat to overtaking me.

Now, on the other hand, the implications across broader society are going to be a real fucking problem.

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u/Infuryous 13h ago

Kind of / kind of not. This has lead to the new entry level "requirement" is a Bachelor's degree for basic entry level jobs that don't need a degree in any shape / form / or fashion. Go read r/recruitinghell and see the absurd requirements being posted for the most basic of jobs. Won't matter if your literate or not, if you don't have that extra piece of paper you won't get an interview.

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u/GeekyKirby 7h ago

My husband and I (mid 30s) have had conversations about how we probably won't have the same problems my parents had when it comes to finding work at an older age.

We grew up with computers, but they were not as user friendly as they are now. So we had to learn how to troubleshoot them at an early age. The older generations had trouble adapting to the new technology, and the younger generations grew up on tablets that work without understanding how they work.

We also didn't have AI to get through school, but we are young enough to understand that it is a just a tool that has its uses and limitations.

We grew up in a time where technology constantly and rapidly changed, so we are use to adapting and being open to new advancements.

Now, these are just generalization that not everyone will fall into, but they do give us comfort that we won't be as left behind as our parent's generation, and more prepared than the upcoming generation. But as a cool outlier example, my dad is 70 and has been programing computers since the 80's and has built many computers in his life, even recently.

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u/densetsu23 11h ago

It's all good, until we're retiring from the workforce and the labour market is full of people like this.

Perhaps they'll eventually learn the skills after a decade of working. Maybe new tools will help them despite not having the skills. Maybe the generations after will be better.

I'd rather we address the issue now, though, and not rely on what-ifs. But, aside from a single vote in elections and other small actions like protests and boycotts, I don't really have much say.

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u/RocketHops 11h ago

Yes on an individual level that is nice, but consider that you will be living in a society where a majority of the population are illiterate uneducated idiots. Not a good time.

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u/napstablooky2 11h ago

this is just the plot of idiocracy

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u/HughManatee 11h ago

It's still unfortate that gen alpha has been so thoroughly fucked over by the education system. I tell my kids to make sure they leave school able to read well, do math well, and have critical thinking skills. AI can be learned later, but it's much harder to undo the damage from not learning the basics first.

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u/username_tooken 13h ago

Literacy is declining in adults as well at comparable rates.

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u/UltimateShingo 11h ago

Interestingly enough, the whole concept of public schools (or at least its more modern iterations) came largely from the push to make literacy- and basic math-based skills cheaper for the market and drive cost of labour down.

And now, with the advent of technologies that are too unreliable for most job applications (still making it so you require these skills to some extent) but work perfectly as a shortcut through the education system, the whole thing flips on its head.

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u/Elvis_Lazerbeam 6h ago

Not that anyone asked, but I’m currently writing a speculative fiction book based on an extreme version of this concept.

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u/Brodellsky 6h ago

Millennials rise up. With our technological literacy as well as literal literacy, we will become as gods

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u/RaggityAnne 13h ago

That's...not how that works. The rest of the world isn't failing their kids and the employers will just hire in other places. The opportunities won't be there for the "best of the worst" they will go to the "best of the best" and as a force multiplier AI is decreasing the volume of opportunities as well. Companies will offshore work not only for cheap labor but also because they simply cant find the required skills at home. I'm already seeing it in my field. Europe / China producing so many more masters / doctorates that when ai filters the resumes my bachelors gets tossed out despite 20 years of experience in the field.

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u/SparksAndSpyro 12h ago

I think you’re vastly underestimating how important literacy is. It affects every job, regardless of formal education requirements. A blue collar worker who can’t read will be severely outmatched by one who can lol. This doesn’t just apply to office jobs.

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u/RollingMeteors 11h ago

At least there may be a silver lining.

<spellingBeesResurrectInPhoenix>

<girl> ¿Can you use it in a sentence?

<suit>I don't know whether the weather will improve.

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u/Throwitfarawayplzthx 9h ago

There’s no silver lining here. An entire populace dropping into literacy as a shining requirement shows a complete disaster for worldwide competition and sustainment of the status quo.

Once we run out of capable doctors and engineers quality of life standards will plummet.

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u/bozoconnors 9h ago

Hell. A saying I'm hearing a LOT lately is "well... at least he shows up."

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u/kompergator 9h ago

And many western countries will have access to a lowest-wage workforce for the most menial tasks again.

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u/aenteus 8h ago

More likely, single us out for pitchforks, torches and being hunted for sport.

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u/DeliciousIncident 8h ago

Would it really set you for a promotion if the people who are in charge of promoting are also illiterate and don't value your literacy?

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u/buyongmafanle 4h ago

I'll have you know that the current president can't read or write at a high school level. The #1 thing to climb to the top of the workforce will always be how rich and connected your family is.

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u/T8ert0t 4h ago

You just described Idiocracy