Are ASU students using AI to help with school work? Most say no. Here's why
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TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State starts finals next week, and for students, that means extra work and extra stress. Will students use artificial intelligence, or AI, to help, or to cheat?
While taking a visit to campus, most say they aren’t using AI to get better grades, but other students? Maybe.
"I feel like the goal should be for just assistance for me, but I feel like a lot of students will be like, this can do it for me," said ASU sophomore, Cole.
"I want to get the grade and just turn it in faster. That’s why I understand people are using it," Nakaii, an ASU freshman said.
Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, the head of ASU's computer and AI program, calls this a game of cat and mouse between students and professors, with the usual pros and cons.
"That could be seen as a positive because they are getting their message across to me in terms that I can understand. But, the other side of it is that they can also use it for things like plagiarism," Kambhampati explained.
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He says some professors are actually embracing AI and its kinks, called hallucinations.
"Some professors are actually using this to say, OK, you can ask ChatGPT for the answer to this factual question, but then you need to correct it," Kambhampati said.
Professors can often spot sudden good work from a previously poor student, but many are hoping the honor system is still in effect.
"There is nothing I can do short of holding onto you and following you everywhere to make sure that you are not cheating. I’m not here to be policing," Kambhampati said.
Most students agree.
"One of my professors talked about it. He just said that don’t cheat because you got to be responsible, because you got to understand what’s at risk," Nicolas, a freshman at ASU, said.
Tajilynn, another ASU first-year student, agrees, saying, "I’ve never seen actually anybody get caught with it. I don’t think students want to take that risk."
Kambhampadi reminds students that AI will sometimes make up things to fill in the gaps – like when he asked ChatGPT to write a paper on himself and found several flaws.