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The new study says professors and universities need to guide students better on how to use AI in coursework.<\/span><\/p>\n getty<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n No one really knows (yet) how much cheating is going on in colleges among students using generative AI. \u201cSome claim it\u2019s everywhere<\/a>. Some say there\u2019s no change<\/a>,\u201d says Rene Kizilcec, associate professor of information science at Cornell University and director of the Cornell Future of Learning Lab. \u201cIt\u2019s really interesting to try to figure out what\u2019s closer to the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s what a new study being posted online today by the journal Science<\/em><\/a>, and coauthored by Kizilcec, sought to uncover. The researchers examined how students use AI across different academic disciplines and found that use was highest in quantitative fields like computer science, business and economics \u2014 not the humanities, where public anxiety about cheating has largely focused on students using AI to write essays.<\/p>\n The findings are based on survey responses from 95,500 students at public U.S. research universities, which have a total enrollment of more than 2.6 million undergraduates and award more than half of all bachelor\u2019s degrees in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). <\/p>\n AI cheating appears less widespread than many professors and parents fear, Kizilcec says. While two-thirds of students in the survey reported using generative AI during the 2023-24 academic year, only 9% admitted knowingly submitting AI-generated work when it may not have been allowed. Among daily AI users, however, that figure rose to 26%. \u201cThat suggests that as students use it more and more, cheating with AI will also increase,\u2019\u2019 Kizilcec tells Forbes.<\/em><\/p>\n Kizilcec warns the findings point to a much larger problem: AI is exposing weaknesses in how colleges measure learning and whether degrees still reliably signal competence to employers. \u201cThe stakes are really high here,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about a little bit of cheating, it is about the integrity of the institution and the credibility of the degrees that are issued.\u201d<\/p>\n That concern is already reshaping higher education. Earlier this month, Princeton University faculty voted<\/a> to require proctors for in-person exams starting July 1, ending a 133-year tradition of unsupervised testing conducted under the school\u2019s honor code.<\/p>\n \u201cHonor systems are a great idea and a great ideal,\u201d Kizilcec says. But he argues AI has intensified existing competitive pressures in higher education, where grading on a curve and high-stakes outcomes can incentivize misuse. \u201cIn a world where you can get ahead by using something, and there\u2019s a low chance of being caught, it\u2019s no surprise the incentives cause students to act in that way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\nMore Controlled Assessments<\/h2>\n