Artificial intelligence has become a major flashpoint in education, as cases of AI-assisted cheating continue to emerge in schools and universities.
Separately, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order limiting state government regulation of artificial intelligence. In classrooms, educators report repeated cases of students using AI tools to find exam answers or complete assignments.
At Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)’s King Drew Medical Magnet High School, teachers recently confirmed an incident involving AI-based exam cheating. Some students who had posted poor grades throughout the semester suddenly received A grades on a test, prompting an investigation.
Teachers later determined that students had used Google Lens, an image-based AI tool built into the Google Chrome browser, to scan test questions and view answers and explanations.
Jennifer Kim, a teacher at LAUSD, said AI use among students has become so common that she now tries to administer quizzes on paper whenever possible. She said noticeable score gaps often appear during paper exams, which she believes highlights students’ heavy reliance on AI tools.
Concerns about AI use have also surfaced at universities. At Yonsei University in South Korea, several third-year students were recently found to have used AI during an online exam. About 600 students took the course, and the professor assigned zero scores to students identified as using AI.
Dokyun Kim, a professor of communication at Louisiana State University, said many students now submit assignments created with AI rather than studying and writing reports themselves. He said the issue is viewed as serious across higher education, and professors increasingly use software designed to identify AI-generated work.
Hwaeun Lee, a graduate student in food engineering at the University of Georgia, said it would not be an exaggeration to say more than 80% of students around her use AI. She added that some undergraduate students rely almost entirely on AI to complete assignments.
Amid growing concerns, some educators argue AI should not be excluded outright but guided toward appropriate use. Ginny Shim, a teacher at Cypress High School, said she actively incorporates AI into her lessons.
She said she asked students to use AI to generate questions and document the exchange of answers. According to Sim, the exercise led some students to respond that they could think through the problems on their own without AI assistance.
BY YOONJAE JUNG [jung.yoonjae@koreadaily.com]
