There’s really only one way to stop students from cheating with AI

We need to address the issue at its root.

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox

We need to get at the root of the problem by changing students’ underlying motivations, says the writer.

We need to get at the root of the problem by changing students’ underlying motivations, says the writer.

PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

Adam Grant

The day before a take-home exam in my undergraduate course at Wharton, a few students sent me frantic messages that some of their peers were planning to use artificial intelligence to cheat. Having spent the semester trying to bring out the best in each of them, I was dismayed to discover the worst in them. It felt like a betrayal.

When the 95 students logged in for the exam, however, they got a surprise. I had ditched the multiple-choice and short-answer questions I usually include. Instead, I asked the students to write an essay, using the principles of organisational psychology they had been studying, on how to motivate students to stop cheating.

See more on