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A professor used white font to hide instructions to throw off students using an AI chatbot to cheat on their midterm.

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[-] A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl 44 points 2 weeks ago

This is ridiculous, in my uni is pen and paper, and people with physical or mental disabilities get accommodations so they can perform as good as other people, I myself have some due to autism.

What is not OK is just to give a medium to enable cheaters like this.

[-] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeah, it's interesting seeing some professors complaining about how AI has made catching cheaters harder now.

But then you see that they are letting students have access to phones and laptops during exam with no software/Internet restriction and you think...yeah I wonder why...what could possibly be done...

Not allow them those devices for a subject like history during an exam? No impossible.

When I brought it up here a teacher went lol but they have phones and tablets. As if its not worth even trying to prevent. And also they said they didn't want to do paper and pencil either because its too much work to grade.

There are programs that completely lock down laptops for exams preventing you from using internet, going to the desktop, open other docs, etc so its not like it has to be paper and pencil to prevent AI usage. But, its like some professors just can't wrap their head around the concept of not allowing full access to electronics or none at all despite the subject matter not being something like programming, but history.

[-] jjj 3 points 2 weeks ago

There are programs that completely lock down laptops for exams preventing you from using internet, going to the desktop, open other docs, etc

These are generally platform specific and, by their nature, extremely invasive. For people who don't care about their computer except as an "internet getter thingy" and use a supported environment this is fine.

I on the other hand practically can't take such tests without using the university's computers.

With respect to my understanding of accessibility and decency it pretty much does have to be paper and pencil if they're going to limit information access.

[-] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Platform specific to windows and mac devices. Thing is if a university wants to create a hard to cheat environment while refusing to do paper exams that is the best option available.

Alternative is choosing to administer exams on personal electronics while doing nothing to prevent access to internet, notes, and software yet asking students to not use it.

That is just naive. And this has been the standard at least where I went to school even before AI. It's not like laptops and smartphones are something new. Its been ubiquitous over a decade now. Yet, some schools act like they've never dealt with it before just because of AI when even prior to AI teachers were well aware of the cheating capabilities of electronics. Even graphing calculators.

[-] jjj 1 points 2 weeks ago

That is just naive.

Correct. There are two operating systems people use, the rest don't matter.

while refusing to do paper exams

Refuse? Why?

[-] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

One teacher here when I brought up paper exams said they find it a hassle to grade.

Mind you I'm not approaching this from a privacy or consumer advocates position. But, as a general university that doesn't care about that and is just choosing among options available to try to make cheating more difficult.

I'm more just amazed at how lax electronics in classes has become during exams more than anything.

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago

Oh, even your students that are unable to use a pen and paper? Neat, don't know how they do it

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 9 points 2 weeks ago

Are you aware that students that are unable to use pen and paper already get accommodations both during regular school days as well as at exams?

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago

Some see those as demeaning.

There's an interesting thing known as "Medical Model" Vs "Social Model" for accessibility;

Medical Model - you have an amputated leg, here's a crutch, it is awkward and cumbersome to use and makes you feel "other"

Social Model - you have an amputated leg, it doesn't effect you as having ramps and accessible features it's so normalised that you don't need to struggle with subpar solutions, and you don't notice the difference as much

You're currently advocating for the worse option, the Medical Model

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 1 points 2 weeks ago

Amputees don't need crutches because ramps? Go to sleep.

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago

And accessible features

Learn to read

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 1 points 2 weeks ago

Nah, I think I'm gonna unlearn reading after this interaction.

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

And yet here you are

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago

Also, people with crutches do benefit from ramps, they're easier to get up than stairs when you have a crutch

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yes, of course ramps can be useful to people with crutches. You kinda just presented two cases, one where the person with an amputated leg gets a crutch and it sucks for them and makes them feel bad; and another where having an amputated leg doesn't affect them thanks to other forms of accessibility, of which you named ramps. That was a weak argument.

But we were talking about whether people who can't use pen and paper get proper accommodations or not. Now let me remind you that the context of this thread is cheating using LLMs and whether students should have access to LLMs during exam-taking or not. You have spoken in favor of such an arrangement, on account disabled students who have difficulty with pen and paper.

You wrote that some students supposedly find the available accommodations 'demeaning'. It appears you're trying to say that the available accommodations are "medical", and that you're instead proposing that all students whether they can use pen and paper or not, should have access to LLMs during exam-taking, because that would be a "social" solution and therefore your preferred alternative.

If you're trolling, then let me congratulate you, you win. If not, please try to reflect over what hypothetical problem it is you're trying to solve, and also how you should go about presenting your argument in the future, because it is utterly unconvincing.

[-] gwl 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've spoken in favour of having a computer in exams, not a jot in favour of LLMs. And that it should be a option available for both those who need and those who want. (The social model is this case)

You've entirely read a subtext which didn't exist.

You can just give incredibly locked down laptops, no internet connection, no way to add apps, pre installed. They're not even hard to setup.

They've had those in the UK for like 20-something years.

It should basically be a computer that's one step above a typewriter.

And fuck LLMs and AI

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Then that's the lesson you should learn here - be clear with what you mean, because I can guarantee you that everyone else in this thread interpreted your comments in the exact same way that I did. They're not downvoting you because they're opposed to the accommodation you're describing, they're downvoting you because that's now what came across.

As you pointed out, locked-down desktops on university intranet is the goto for students that need accommodations. I don't think anyone is arguing for removing that.

[-] gwl 1 points 6 days ago

I was clear, you just didn't read

[-] mirshafie@europe.pub 1 points 6 days ago

You got downvoted into oblivion, and I bet you it's not because people disagree, it's because you weren't in fact being clear at all.

[-] A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl 3 points 2 weeks ago

they usually have a social worker that uses the pen and paper for them.

[-] bryndos@fedia.io 1 points 2 weeks ago

If they're getting electronic aids from the institution, then it should have an 'exam mode' that it has to be put into.

I guess the only reason they don't do electronic exams on institution controlled hardware, is - I assume - they can't afford enough terminals. But they should have enough for the people that can't use pen and paper.

[-] gwl 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

That's already been the standard for decades in the UK, they're set to offline mode and incredibly locked down.

I have no idea why the schools aren't doing that in USA other than cause y'all are somehow both incredibly behind the times in some fields of tech (accessibility, education, social care, taxes, politics) and incredibly far ahead in others (engineering, medical, physics, research, murder, warcrimes)

this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2026
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