Another AI Cheating Scandal Erupts at Seoul National University, Over Half of Students in CS Class Penalized

It has been learned that another case of students submitting assignments using AI has been uncovered in a major course at Seoul National University, following campus-wide guidelines distributed after controversies over unauthorized AI use last year.

During the spring semester, more than half of the 62 students enrolled in a computer science major course at the Seoul National University College of Engineering—specifically 36 students—faced academic penalties for using AI on their assignments.

Before the semester began, the professor in charge posted a syllabus notifying students that "generative AI will not be used in any class activities to foster students' independent problem-solving skills and critical thinking."

However, the professor stated that after noticing signs of AI usage in numerous submitted assignments during the semester, "students who used AI were told to self-report, and additional AI users were caught through end-of-semester interviews with all students."

The 25 students who self-reported using AI received a zero for the relevant assignments, while the 11 students who did not self-report but admitted to using AI during the interviews were reportedly given a D- grade for the course.

Amidst more than half of the students receiving academic penalties, the student council recently delivered a protest letter to the professor stating that the criteria for determining AI usage are unclear.

A representative from the computer science department student council explained, "The intention was that if answers from a person and AI are similar, students who did not use AI might have been mistakenly identified as having used it and had points deducted." In response, the professor stated, "All 36 students who were caught admitted to using AI on their assignments."

Controversies over unauthorized AI use have recurred at Seoul National University since last year.

In October of last year, some students solved test questions using AI during a "Statistical Experiments" exam, prompting a re-exam, and circumstances pointing to cheating were also detected during an online exam for an "Global Environmental Change" lecture in December, resulting in the exam being replaced with an assignment.

Although Seoul National University subsequently distributed the "Seoul National University AI Guidelines" in January, another large-scale unauthorized usage incident has occurred.

(Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Naon | Graphics by Yang Hyemin | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.