AI essays beat human performance in university exams, reveals study

Artificial intelligence (AI) has proved its prowess in academia, surpassing real students in university exams, according to a recent study by the University of Reading.

Researchers found that AI-generated answers in undergraduate psychology exams consistently outperformed those from actual students, often slipping past markers without detection.

Creating 33 fictitious student profiles, the study used ChatGPT, an AI tool, to craft responses for module exams. Results revealed that AI-written essays scored, on average, half a grade higher than human submissions. Alarmingly, 94 per cent of these AI essays raised no suspicions among markers, highlighting their near-invisible footprint in assessment processes. The study, published in PLOS ONE, suggested that the 6 per cent detection rate might overestimate AI detection capabilities.