South Korea's Top University Rocked by Cheating Scandal: Hundreds of Students Suspected of Using AI for Exam

Yonsei University, a top South Korean university, was recently rocked by a large-scale cheating scandal. Hundreds of students enrolled in a particular course are suspected of using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to complete their midterm exam.

A professor teaching the "Natural Language Processing (NLP) and ChatGPT" course at Yonsei University's Sinchon campus recently disclosed that due to the large enrollment of approximately 600 students, the course was conducted online, and the midterm exam was administered via an online platform on October 15. To prevent cheating, he required students to record their screens throughout the exam and submit the video, which needed to show both their hands and face.

However, some students circumvented the monitoring by adjusting their camera angles or opening multiple windows on their screens simultaneously. After discovering signs of cheating, the professor issued a notice stating that students who confessed proactively would receive a zero on their midterm exam but would face no further penalties.

The exact number of students involved remains unclear, but speculation suggests it could be more than half. Following the professor's notice, a poll appeared in the Yonsei University section of a university community mobile application, labeled "Let's vote honestly." Among the 353 participants, 190 admitted to cheating on the exam.