New Trick Catches Students Cheating With AI

AI is becoming very good at writing, and it's no surprise some students are using it for their assignments. A college professor in Mississippi, Jason Gibson, has come up with a clever way to spot them, and his method has gone viral.

He hid invisible text, like a sentence saying "I used AI on this assignment," in the digital versions of his tests. This text was the same colour as the background, so students couldn't see it. However, when they copied and pasted the questions into an AI tool like ChatGPT, the hidden text went along for the ride. The AI would then include this hidden text in its answers, exposing the students.

Professor Gibson caught 32 out of 35 students using this trick. It highlights a growing challenge for educators and raises questions about how we ensure fair assessments when AI writing tools are so readily available. It's a bit like the old cat-and-mouse game, but with a new tech twist.

This method isn't just for students. As AI becomes more common in workplaces, similar issues could pop up. Think about proposals, reports, or even customer communications. Knowing how to detect AI-generated content, or at least being aware that it's out there, will become increasingly important for maintaining trust and originality in our work.