ITHome On October 28, a professor at UC Berkeley announced that he would no longer assign graded homework to students, because the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) has rendered such assignments meaningless.
According to a report by the New York Post on October 26, renowned mathematician and Fields Medalist Richard Borcherds said that it is now nearly impossible to tell whether the homework students submit was completed by themselves or generated with the help of artificial intelligence. Therefore, he now mainly assesses students' learning through in-person exams that do not allow electronic devices.
ITHome noted that in an interview with the outlet, Borcherds said: "These days, online exams are a waste of time, because some students will directly use AI to answer the questions. I can't tell which students used AI, but I've noticed that the average scores on online exams have risen sharply."
He also pointed out: "Grading based on whether answers are correct gives students a huge incentive to use AI to complete homework rather than solve problems themselves, while also punishing the students who complete their homework honestly. Spending time and money grading AI-generated answers is also a waste."
Regarding this issue, UC Berkeley had previously considered using AI detection software, but ultimately concluded that such tools are not reliable enough. Therefore, the university decided to leave the formulation of AI use policies to professors, only requiring them to clearly state the relevant rules in their course syllabi.
As for Borcherds, he said that if the worst impact of AI is merely making it harder for teachers to grade students' homework, then he would be "quite reassured".