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fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

At 22, I left LA for a traditional Oxford education. I mocked it then—but this stodgy approach might be our best hope right now [honest-broker.com]:

The level of AI cheating has reached such an extreme that many fear we’ve reached a point of no return.

• “Everyone is cheating their way through college,” New York magazine recently announced [nymag.com]. “ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.”
• The Wall Street Journal has reached a similar conclusion: “There’s a good chance your kid uses AI to cheat,” declared a recent article [wsj.com].
• “AI cheating is getting worse,” The Atlantic agrees [theatlantic.com], and “colleges don’t have a plan.”

Even worse, cheaters are getting all the rewards. A Columbia student recently got kicked out for cheating—and he turned around and raised millions to turn his system into a startup [futurism.com].

[...] When I was 22 years old, I woke up one morning in a hot dingy apartment on the cusp of South Central LA—where I’d been sleeping on the floor. I grabbed two suitcases I’d packed the night before, and caught a ride to the Los Angeles International Airport.

[...] My destination was the University of Oxford—a place I’d never seen and only knew through hearsay and Hollywood movies.

[...] How would the Oxford system kill AI?

[...] If implemented today, the Oxford system would totally elminate AI cheating—in these five ways:

1. EVERYTHING WAS HANDWRITTEN—WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TYPEWRITERS.
2. [...] MY PROFESSORS TAUGHT ME AT TUTORIALS IN THEIR OFFICES. THEY WOULD GRILL ME VERBALLY—AND I WAS EXPECTED TO HAVE IMMEDIATE RESPONSES TO ALL THEIR QUESTIONS.
3. [...] ACADEMIC RESULTS WERE BASED ENTIRELY ON HANDWRITTEN AND ORAL EXAMS. YOU EITHER PASSED OR FAILED—AND MANY FAILED.
4. [...] THE SYSTEM WAS TOUGH AND UNFORGIVING—BUT THIS WAS INTENTIONAL. OTHERWISE THE CREDENTIAL GOT DEVALUED.
5. [...] EVEN THE INFORMAL WAYS OF BUILDING YOUR REPUTATION WERE DONE FACE-TO-FACE—WITH NO TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED.

The author goes into detail on each of the 5 points, and speculates why it wouldn't be feasible in the US.

Related:

• Parents Sue After Student Punished For Using AI In Class [soylentnews.org]
• OpenAI Afraid to Release ChatGPT Detection Tool That Might Piss Off Cheaters [soylentnews.org]
• Dishonor Code: What Happens When Cheating Becomes the Norm? [soylentnews.org]
• These Students Figured Out their Tests Were Graded by AI -- And The Easy Way to Cheat [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission