The art of cribbing in school examinations has a long history of application starting with the concealment by pupils of answers in minute notes written on one´s skin or their passage by means of paper balls expertly flicked from desk to desk. This has progressed from the use of inkwells, pens and blotters for the conveyance of answers to a modern scholastic environment whereby certain aids, such as calculators and electronic devices, are permitted both for on-line examinations and course achievements. Consequently, the opportunities for cheating abound and have caused a corresponding increase in the effective use by examiners of anti-plagiarism detection systems such as Turnitin.

With the recent astonishing expansion of genAI and the introduction of Chatbots as an aid to composition, the examination system has been overwhelmed. Tutors marking both course submissions and test papers are reporting falsifications in excess of 50%. This is particularly notable in the case of overseas students who, having displayed language learning difficulties in class, return work which is written in near perfect English. As one member of a board of examiners has been quoted: “Nobody is blind to it. It is not a social or educational environment. It´s a box-checking exercise. A master´s degree is not worth what a bachelor´s used to be”.

In contrast, the reaction of university administrators has been to accept a revolutionary regime which commenced with the Covid-19 lockdown and now requires a modification whereby the employment of genAI should be regarded as the new norm which may lead to the obtention of degrees and qualifications. In this, the matter of income receivable from the sponsors of students has not been disregarded.

This movement to achievement by excellence in the use of tools has been underlined by the recent Nobel prizes. Those for physics and chemistry have been shared by five laureates only one of whom, David Baker, has been a specialist in the field. The four others have been experts in the employment of AI for a methodical search and analysis of data in order to produce the theses or conclusions which merit the award.

What was previously condemned as “cribbing” or plagiarism is now a respected means of higher education. But its methodology is finite if the forecast of eventual supremacy of machine over human intellect becomes a reality.

Roberto Cavaleiro Tomar 21 October, 2024