Universities across Scotland have reprimanded hundreds of students over the past two years for using generative AI like ChatGPT to plagiarize content and submit it as their own work.
More than 400 students at Scottish universities have been caught using artificial intelligence to cheat in the last two years, according to data compiled by AI company AIPRM from Freedom of Information requests and first reported in the Sunday Post.
Of the 431 students caught using AI, 211 were from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University, 72 from Dundee’s Abertay University, and 51 from the University of Glasgow.
Other universities detecting AI misuse included Glasgow Caledonian University, which found 30 students using banned software, St Andrews University, which caught 23, and Stirling University, where 22 students were found cheating.
Universities Scotland, the representative body of Scotland’s 19 higher education institutions, stated: “The use of AI offers both risks and opportunities to universities, and institutions should embrace change as students begin to reach for AI in the way we have done for other digital tools.
“Universities are collaborating closely with relevant expert bodies on ICT and academic integrity to help inform their processes on AI as the technology advances.”
Plagiarism has become a growing concern among higher education institutions. Last year, universities across the UK announced they were drawing up a set of guiding principles to ensure that students and staff are AI literate, with Vice-chancellors at the 24 Russell Group research-intensive universities signing up to the code.
Commenting for the Sunday Post, the teachers union EIS supported calls for the government to launch an ethics framework for the use of AI, stating: “As AI becomes more prevalent within society, it is essential that students are not only educated in the perceived benefits of AI but are able to assess any risks and the impact of those risks on their education, their qualifications and on their life choices more generally.”
The figures were released after AI developer AIPRM submitted Freedom of Information requests to 157 UK universities. The data showed that sixty-five institutions had caught students using AI to cheat, while fifteen, including eight in Scotland, reported no detections.
Based on the data, it’s unclear if some universities have more students using AI to cheat or if some institutions are simply better at identifying AI misuse than others.
