Australia: Australian universities have been forced to return to pen and paper exams amid fears that students are using emerging artificial intelligence software to write essays.

Major institutions have adopted new rules that consider the use of AI as cheating, with some students already caught using the software.

Academics in the country have cited concerns over ChatGPT, a chatbot launched in November by OpenAI that generates text on any subject in response to a prompt or query, and similar technology’s ability to evade anti-plagiarism software while providing quick and credible academic writing.

The Group of Eight universities, which are the leading research-intensive universities around the country, stated that they had revised how they would run assessments this year due to emerging technology.

According to the group’s deputy chief executive, Dr. Matthew Brown, institutions were “proactively tackling” AI through student education, staff training, redesigning assessments and targeted technological as well as other detection strategies.

“Our universities have revised how they will run assessments in 2023, including supervised exams, greater use of pen and paper exams and tests, and tests only for units with low integrity risks. Assessment redesign is critical, and this work is ongoing for our universities as we seek to get ahead of AI developments,” Dr. Brown added.

The latest academic integrity policy of Sydney University specifically mentions “generating content using artificial intelligence” as a form of cheating.

The Australian National University has changed assessment designs to rely more on laboratory activities as well as fieldwork and introduced more oral presentations.

Recently, ChatGPT was banned across all devices in New York’s public schools due to concerns over its “negative impact on student learning and potential for plagiarism.”

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