"If I Get Caught, I'll Just Go Somewhere Else"... Can Smart Glasses Breach College Admissions?

The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is now just a month away. While test-takers are busy with their final reviews, another group of people is just as frantic at this time: exam proctors and education authorities. The reason education authorities are on high alert is none other than AI smart glasses. On October 10, during the essay admissions exam for the 2027 academic year held at Yonsei University's Sinchon campus, an applicant wearing AI glasses was caught. The student reportedly wore regular glasses at first, but switched to AI glasses once the exam started. Yonsei University disqualified the student.

A similar incident occurred at the University of Seoul. On October 3, during a natural sciences essay exam held at the university, an applicant wearing AI smart glasses was caught. A proctor found the frame unusually thick compared to regular glasses and requested an inspection, uncovering that they were AI glasses. This student had also initially worn regular glasses. The University of Seoul disqualified the applicant and banned them from taking any of the school's admissions exams for the next three years. I decided to try solving an exam wearing AI glasses myself. Wearing glasses equipped with Meta AI, I tackled an English section question from the CSAT administered two years ago. Just seconds after I asked for help, it gave me the answer.

[Let's try solving a CSAT question. Hey Meta, what is the answer to question 19?]
[The answer to question 19 is option 3.]

Of course, the glasses I wore had an unmistakably thick frame, and small hardware components were clearly visible on the frames, making it obvious that they were AI glasses. The issue is that AI glasses with thin frames are now entering the market. AI glasses with slim frames and no visible camera lenses are emerging, and these are genuinely difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. How can cheating with AI glasses be stopped during the CSAT? First, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) explicitly designated AI glasses as prohibited items in exam rooms. Test-takers are instructed not to bring them to the test site at all. If an applicant is caught wearing AI glasses during the CSAT, it is considered cheating regardless of whether the features were actually used. In that case, the student is barred from taking not only this year's CSAT but also next year's exam. Furthermore, even without wearing them, bringing AI glasses into the testing room without surrendering them to proctors is deemed cheating, and refusing a proctor's request to inspect one's eyeglasses can also be regarded as cheating.

Although education authorities have established various guidelines to prevent cheating, the key question is whether bringing AI glasses in can actually be stopped in the first place. For starters, metal detectors cannot distinguish between regular glasses and AI glasses at all. Radio frequency detectors could be used, but they react easily to radio signals outside the exam room, making it difficult to pinpoint the offending test-taker on the spot. Additionally, because conditions vary depending on the environment surrounding each test site, the Ministry of Education's position is that deploying radio frequency detectors is practically unfeasible. In the end, prevention relies on post-entry proctoring rather than proactive blocking.

[Choi Kyo-jin / Minister of Education (National Assembly audit on October 7): "Smart glasses are an emerging threat factor, and if discovered, we intend to disqualify the violator not only from this year's CSAT, but also through next year, revoking their eligibility for one additional year." ] With so many cases of applicants caught wearing AI glasses during exams, questions naturally arise. First, what happens if an enrolled university student who is retaking the CSAT gets caught wearing AI glasses during this exam? Because they are already enrolled in a university, could they attempt to cheat thinking, "If I get caught, so be it, but if I don't, even better"? While the act is undeniably recognized as cheating and leads to a ban from retaking the CSAT, this penalty does not extend directly to their current university. Under the Higher Education Act, penalties against CSAT cheaters apply strictly to the CSAT itself, meaning disciplinary action from the student's enrolled university does not occur automatically. Consequently, because these students already have a spot at a university, a restriction on taking the CSAT carries little real consequence.

Second, will the applicants caught wearing AI glasses at Yonsei University and the University of Seoul face disadvantages in admissions screenings at other universities? The Ministry of Education's answer is "no." Penalties against cheaters in university-administered exams apply solely to that specific university. The current system does not share information among universities regarding who cheated and what method was used. In other words, a student caught cheating at Yonsei University or the University of Seoul could apply to another university's admissions track, get accepted, and attend college without any repercussions. Cheating on admissions or college exams using AI glasses is not unique to South Korea. In 2024, a student was caught cheating with smart glasses during an entrance exam at Waseda University in Japan. That student reportedly cheated by photographing the exam paper with AI glasses, transmitting the images outside, and receiving the answers back. Cheating using smart glasses was also uncovered during final exams at South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. With multiple cases discovered rather than an isolated incident, the school announced that merely bringing electronic devices—including smart glasses, smartwatches, and miniature earphones—into the exam room would result in a score of zero. Furthermore, in the United States, bringing all forms of smart glasses into SAT testing centers is currently prohibited.

In the past, cheating took the form of jotting answers on one's palm with a ballpoint pen or hiding a textbook inside a desk drawer to steal a glance. Today, it has evolved into wearing glasses and asking AI. With the pace of AI glasses development far outstripping detection technologies and proctoring methods, education authorities find their dilemma deepening.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.