Kayleigh Harvey
BBC Scotland News
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Academics say that AI poses a real challenge
More than 600 Scottish students were accused of having misused AI in part of their studies last year – an increase of 121% on figures for 2023.
According to a request for the freedom of information from the BBC Scotland, less than 10 students were launched from their lessons in the universities of Robert Gordon and Glasgow in the first year – the first time that EA expulsions were recorded in any Scottish university.
So when to turn to the Internet to help find the answer to a question crosses the line in cheating?
This is the big problem facing Scottish universities, because daily dependence on the tools of generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as GPT cat, becomes the norm.
What are the penalties?
Dylan Walch
Dylan Walch says that the number of staff and students who are looking for advice on the use of AI increases
Dylan Walch is an education advisor to the Association of Students of the University of Edinburgh and said that the number of staff and students members seeking advice on the use of AI was increasing.
He says that students who already use AI often come to the association to request the clarity of its use, while a minority has been taken up.
He told BBC Scotland News that low -level cases would arouse a discussion with a speaker who could lead to a small brand deduction, but in more serious cases, the university would interview the student in front of a panel.
“It can be quite intimidating and a fairly large procedure and they can lose from 10 to 50 points,” he said.
What can other universities do?
Scotland has a student population of 292,240 inhabitants.
The figures among AI abuses remain weak, but academics say that this poses a real challenge to keep the “fair” rating process.
Professor Sian Bayne conducts research on the use of AI in higher education at the University of Edinburgh and says it is a “complex” debate.
“The most publicized concern was the fault and cheating in the evaluations by generating tests and courses,” she said.
“I think that one of my main concerns is that there are growing research that shows that this allows cognitive unloading, instead of reading a complex text and analyzing it, it is much easier to put a complex text in a generative AI and obtain this generative AI to do this complex work for them.”
Professor Sian Bayne said there were worries about misconduct and cheating in assessments using AI to generate tests and courses
Only two universities in Scotland, Robert Gordon and Abertay, have dedicated software to help detect the abusive use of AI, but poor quality abuse rates remain higher in other universities – with Stirling recording the highest level in 262 cases last year.
“Some institutions are planning to invest in generative AI detection software,” said Professor Bayne.
She said that the teachers were “good enough” to identify the work that has been transformed in AI, but warned that it would become more difficult as technology has evolved.
She said: “For the moment, we are thinking about means that we can rethink the evaluation so that we use more multimodal methods such as images, audio and video or more oral assessments or more person exams, like other means of protecting from this type of fault”.
What do IA students think?
Students say that using AI in the context of their studies can be useful, but were concerned with its level of precision
BBC Scotland News met a group of students from the University of Edinburgh who argue that AI serves them more as a tool than a shortcut with regard to their learning.
Masters students George Karabassis, 26, uses AI to help translation because English is not his first language.
He said: “If I don’t understand a certain question, I can copy and stick a certain sentence and ask the GPT cat, for example; ‘could you please explain this in simpler terms’ so that I can understand it.”
Akrit Ghimire, 18, said that many of his friends have used AI to help their studies.
He said: “Some of the best guests they use is” now explain it as if I was a five -year -old child or a 14 -year -old child. “
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Academics say that using AI can cause problems to ensure that the rating process is kept “just”
Other members of the group also use AI, but warned the precision of some of the research results they received.
Law student Hannah Dong, 20, said that she had encountered false content in her use of AI.
“Sometimes, if you are looking for cases, they don’t really exist and even if you find cases that exist, AI gives you a lack of context,” she said.
The group told the BBC that they wanted better directives set out by AI institutions, and its use, to keep everyone on a playground.
In less than three years, the generator has reversed the conversation on technology and education, but the debate on the best way to tackle its use in the courses continues.
