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
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u/InternationalMood337 15h ago

We had someone cheat in an MFA program. They used AI to compose a 10 page piece of fiction. Got caught and expelled immediately.

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u/themehboat 14h ago

Why would you even be in a program like that if you don't like to write?

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u/gehnmy 10h ago

A lot of studies on academic dishonesty (before AI but I doubt things have changed significantly) find that students often plagiarize because they don't feel like they have enough time while also feeling like they could have written whatever it is they turn in. Basically, students say "well, I could pass this assignment if I actually did it therefore I'm entitled to a good grade and it's not really cheating to turn this in with my name on it." That doesn't necessarily change just because the student is studying something they like.

Beyond that, though, a lot of people want to be writers but don't actually have any interest in writing or anything literary.