Did students at Brown use ChatGPT to ace tests?

In the scandal heard ’round the Ivy League, Brown University economics professor Roberto Serrano accused his students of using AI to cheat on a take-home exam, and said the school was “meek” when presented with evidence.

And that evidence includes an abnormally large number of students with a masterful understanding of welfare economics and social choice theory:

• Serrano’s class swelled from the usual 30 pupils to 86 after announcing his course would have take-home exams.
• The average score on the take-home midterm was 96%, when it typically fell between 65%–80%.
• Serrano alerted students to his AI suspicions and decided to make the final in-person and worth 80% of the final grade.
• The average score on the final was a “historic low” of 48.6%.

A university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that Serrano still “has not provided the necessary details” for the school to take action.

Serrano decided to administer the take-home tests in response to students expressing anxiety over being in a classroom following a mass shooting on campus during finals week last December.

A worrying trend: In a recent survey, 29.9% of Princeton students admitted to cheating with AI on an exam or assignment. A New York Times essay from a recent Stanford graduate said AI has become a “fact of life” at the school.—DL