Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AI
-Guardian investigation finds almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating – and experts says these are tip of the iceberg

爆料:数千名英国大学生被发现使用人工智能作弊
——《卫报》的一项调查发现近7000起被证实的作弊案例——专家称这些只是冰山一角


(More than a quarter of responding universities did not yet record AI misuse as a separate category of misconduct in 2023-24.)

(在2023-2024年,超过四分之一的受访大学尚未将人工智能滥用列为单独的不当行为类别。)

新闻:
Thousands of university students in the UK have been caught misusing ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools in recent years, while traditional forms of plagiarism show a marked decline, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

《卫报》的一项调查显示,近年来,英国有数千名大学生被发现滥用ChatGPT和其他人工智能工具,而传统形式的剽窃行为明显减少。

A survey of academic integrity violations found almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating using AI tools in 2023-24, equivalent to 5.1 for every 1,000 students. That was up from 1.6 cases per 1,000 in 2022-23.

一项针对学术诚信违规行为的调查发现,在2023年至2024年期间,有近7000起已证实的使用人工智能工具作弊案件,相当于每1000名学生中有5.1起。这比2022-23年的每1000例1.6起有所上升。

Figures up to May suggest that number will increase again this year to about 7.5 proven cases per 1,000 students – but recorded cases represent only the tip of the iceberg, according to experts.

专家表示,截至5月份的数据显示,今年这一数字将再次上升,达到每1000名学生中有7.5起,但记录在案的案例仅是冰山一角。

The data highlights a rapidly evolving challenge for universities: trying to adapt assessment methods to the advent of technologies such as ChatGPT and other AI-powered writing tools.

这些数据凸显了大学面临的一个快速演变的挑战:试图调整评估方法,以适应ChatGPT和其他人工智能写作工具等技术的出现。

In 2019-20, before the widespread availability of generative AI, plagiarism accounted for nearly two-thirds of all academic misconduct. During the pandemic, plagiarism intensified as many assessments moved online. But as AI tools have become more sophisticated and accessible, the nature of cheating has changed.

在生成式人工智能广泛普及之前的2019- 2020年,剽窃占所有学术不端行为的近三分之二。疫情期间,随着许多评估转移到网上,剽窃现象加剧。但随着人工智能工具变得越来越复杂和易用,作弊的本质也发生了变化。

The survey found that confirmed cases of traditional plagiarism fell from 19 per 1,000 students to 15.2 in 2023-24 and are expected to fall again to about 8.5 per 1,000, according to early figures from this academic year.

调查发现,根据本学年的早期数据,已确认的传统剽窃案例从每1000名学生19起下降到2023-24学年的15.2起,预计将再次下降到每1000名学生8.5起左右。

The Guardian contacted 155 universities under the Freedom of Information Act requesting figures for proven cases of academic misconduct, plagiarism and AI misconduct in the last five years. Of these, 131 provided some data – though not every university had records for each year or category of misconduct.

英国《卫报》根据《信息自由法》联系了155所大学,要求提供近5年来学术不端行为、剽窃和人工智能不端行为的具体数据。其中,131所大学提供了一些数据——尽管并非每所大学都有每年或每类不当行为的记录。

More than 27% of responding universities did not yet record AI misuse as a separate category of misconduct in 2023-24, suggesting the sector is still getting to grips with the issue.

在2023- 2024年,超过27%的受访大学尚未将人工智能滥用列为单独的不当行为类别,这表明该行业仍在努力解决这一问题。

Many more cases of AI cheating may be going undetected. A survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute in February found 88% of students used AI for assessments. Last year, researchers at the University of Reading tested their own assessment systems and were able to submit AI-generated work without being detected 94% of the time.

更多的人工智能作弊案例可能未被发现。高等教育政策研究所今年2月的一项调查发现,88%的学生为自己的评估使用人工智能。去年,雷丁大学的研究人员测试了他们自己的评估系统,发现测试期内提交的人工智能生成的成果有94%不被检测出来。

Dr Peter Scarfe, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Reading and co-author of that study, said there had always been ways to cheat but that the education sector would have to adapt to AI, which posed a fundamentally different problem.

雷丁大学心理学副教授、该研究的合著者彼得·斯卡夫博士表示,作弊的方法一直存在,但教育部门必须适应人工智能,这带来了一个根本不同的问题。

He said: “I would imagine those caught represent the tip of the iceberg. AI detection is very unlike plagiarism, where you can confirm the copied text. As a result, in a situation where you suspect the use of AI, it is near impossible to prove, regardless of the percentage AI that your AI detector says (if you use one). This is coupled with not wanting to falsely accuse students.

他说:“我认为那些被抓住的案例只是冰山一角。人工智能检测与抄袭非常不同,后者你可以确认抄袭的文本。因此,在你怀疑使用人工智能的情况下,无论你的人工智能检测器显示AI生成的百分比(如果你使用了AI)是多少,都几乎不可能证明。这一点又与不想错误地指责学生相结合。

“It is unfeasible to simply move every single assessment a student takes to in-person. Yet at the same time the sector has to acknowledge that students will be using AI even if asked not to and go undetected.”

“简单地将学生的每一项评估都转移到面对面进行是不可行的。但与此同时,该行业必须承认,即使学生被要求不使用人工智能,他们也会使用人工智能,而且不会被发现。”

Students who wish to cheat undetected using generative AI have plenty of online material to draw from: the Guardian found dozens of videos on TikTok advertising AI paraphrasing and essay writing tools to students. These tools help students bypass common university AI detectors by “humanising” text generated by ChatGPT.

那些希望使用生成式人工智能在不被发现的情况下作弊的学生有大量的在线材料可以借鉴:《卫报》在抖音上发现了数十个视频,向学生宣传人工智能的释义和论文写作工具。这些工具通过将ChatGPT生成的文本“人性化”,帮助学生绕过常见的大学人工智能检测器。

Dr Thomas Lancaster, an academic integrity researcher at Imperial College London, said: “When used well and by a student who knows how to edit the output, AI misuse is very hard to prove. My hope is that students are still learning through this process.”

伦敦帝国理工学院的学术诚信研究员托马斯·兰开斯特博士说:“如果一个学生知道如何编辑输出,并且使用得当,人工智能的滥用是很难证明的。我希望学生们仍能通过这个过程学习。”

Harvey* has just finished his final year of a business management degree at a northern English university. He told the Guardian he had used AI to generate ideas and structure for assignments and to suggest references, and that most people he knows used the tool to some extent.

哈维*刚刚在英国北部的一所大学修完最后一年的商业管理学位。他告诉《卫报》,他已经使用人工智能来为作业产生想法和结构,并提出参考意见,他认识的大多数人都在某种程度上使用该工具。

“ChatGPT kind of came along when I first joined uni, and so it’s always been present for me,” he said. “I don’t think many people use AI and then would then copy it word for word, I think it’s more just generally to help brainstorm and create ideas. Anything that I would take from it, I would then rework completely in my own ways.

他说:“ChatGPT在我刚加入大学的时候就出现了,所以它一直陪伴着我。我不认为很多人使用人工智能,然后逐字逐句地复制它,我认为它更多的是帮助头脑风暴和创造想法。我从中吸取的任何东西,我都会以自己的方式完全重新制作。

“I do know one person that has used it and then used other methods of AI where you can change it and humanise it so that it writes AI content in a way that sounds like it’s come from a human.”

“我确实知道有一个人使用过它,然后使用了其他人工智能方法,你可以改变它,使它人性化,这样它就能以一种听起来像是来自人类的方式编写人工智能内容。”

Amelia* has just finished her first year of a music business degree at a university in the south-west. She said she had also used AI for summarising and brainstorming, but that the tools had been most useful for people with learning difficulties. “One of my friends uses it, not to write any of her essays for her or research anything, but to put in her own points and structure them. She has dyslexia – she said she really benefits from it.”

阿米莉亚*刚刚在西南部的一所大学完成了音乐商业学位的第一年学习。她说,她也用人工智能进行总结和头脑风暴,但这些工具对有学习困难的人最有用。“我的一个朋友用它,不是为她写任何文章或研究任何东西,而是把她自己的观点和组织起来。她有阅读障碍,她说她真的从中受益。”

The science and technology secretary, Peter Kyle, told the Guardian recently that AI should be deployed to “level up” opportunities for dyslexic children.

科技大臣彼得·凯尔最近告诉《卫报》,应该利用人工智能来“提升”阅读困难儿童的机会。

Technology companies appear to be targeting students as a key demographic for AI tools. Google offers university students a free upgrade of its Gemini tool for 15 months, and OpenAI offers discounts to college students in the US and Canada.

科技公司似乎把学生作为使用人工智能工具的关键人群。谷歌为大学生提供为期15个月的Gemini工具免费升级,OpenAI为美国和加拿大的大学生提供折扣。

Lancaster said: “University-level assessment can sometimes seem pointless to students, even if we as educators have good reason for setting this. This all comes down to helping students to understand why they are required to complete certain tasks and engaging them more actively in the assessment design process.

兰开斯特说:“大学水平的评估有时对学生来说似乎毫无意义,即使我们作为教育工作者有充分的理由这样做。这一切都是为了帮助学生理解为什么他们需要完成某些任务,并让他们更积极地参与评估设计过程。

“There’s often a suggestion that we should use more exams in place of written assessments, but the value of rote learning and retained knowledge continues to decrease every year. I think it’s important that we focus on skills that can’t easily be replaced by AI, such as communication skills, people skills, and giving students the confidence to engage with emerging technology and to succeed in the workplace.”

“经常有人建议我们应该用更多的考试来代替书面评估,但是死记硬背和保留知识的价值每年都在下降。我认为重要的是,我们要关注那些不容易被人工智能取代的技能,比如沟通技巧、人际交往技巧,让学生有信心接触新兴技术,并在工作场所取得成功。”

A government spokesperson said it was investing more than £187m in national skills programmes and had published guidance on the use of AI in schools.

一位政府发言人表示,政府将在国家技能项目上投资逾1.87亿英镑,并发布了在学校使用人工智能的指导意见。

They said: “Generative AI has great potential to transform education and provides exciting opportunities for growth through our plan for change. However, integrating AI into teaching, learning and assessment will require careful consideration and universities must determine how to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks to prepare students for the jobs of the future.”

他们表示:“生成式人工智能具有改变教育的巨大潜力,并通过我们的变革计划提供令人兴奋的增长机会。然而,将人工智能整合到教学、学习和评估中需要仔细考虑,大学必须确定如何利用人工智能的好处并降低风险,让学生为未来的工作做好准备。”