---
title: "Sneaky Students Using AI to Write Their Papers For Them"
description: "Tech-savvy students are reportedly getting straight A's by using advanced AI language generators — mainly OpenAI's GPT-3 — to write papers for them."
date: "2022-10-16"
modified: "2022-10-16"
authors:
  - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sneaky-students-ai-write-papers"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "ai"
  - "gpt-3"
  - "OpenAI"
  - "the digest"
---

# Sneaky Students Using AI to Write Their Papers For Them

![Tech-savvy students are reportedly getting straight A's by using advanced AI language generators — mainly OpenAI's GPT-3 — to write papers for them.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/sneaky-students-ai-write-papers.jpg>)
*Robot's hand typing on keyboard. \<em\>Image: Getty Images\</em\>*

## Honor Code

Tech-savvy students are reportedly getting straight As by using advanced language generators — [mainly OpenAI's wildly advanced GPT-3](<https://futurism.com/gpt3-academic-paper>), [according to *Motherboard*](<https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7g5yq/students-are-using-ai-to-write-their-papers-because-of-course-they-are>) — to write papers for them. And as these AI-written responses can't be detected by plagiarism software, schools are likely to have a difficult time combatting this next-gen subversion.

"It would be simple assignments that included extended responses," a college student who goes by innovate\_rye on Reddit told *Motherboard*. "For biology, we would learn about biotech and write five good and bad things about biotech. I would send a prompt to the AI like, 'what are five good and bad things about biotech?' and it would generate an answer that would get me an A."

Kids? Using their vast knowledge of burgeoning technologies to circumvent digital boundaries that adults simply don't know how to keep up with? No one [could have seen](<https://futurism.com/grad-student-neural-network-write-papers>) this one coming.

## Plagiarism Software

If plagiarism software were capable of flagging AI-made prompts, this probably wouldn't be an issue. But while there's definitely a philosophical debate to be had about whether any AI-generated writing should ever be considered original, it's *technically* seen as such by plagiarism-checking softwares — and it's unclear if or when those systems will ever be able to catch up.

"\[The text\] is not copied from somewhere else, it's produced by a machine, so plagiarism checking software is not going to be able to detect it and it's not able to pick it up because the text wasn't copied from anywhere else," George Veletsianos, Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning & Technology and associate professor at Royal Roads University, told *Motherboard*.

"Without knowing how all these other plagiarism checking tools quite work and how they might be developed in the future," he continued, "I don't think that AI text can be detectable in that way."

## Busy Work, Shmusy Work

Of course, these kids are [definitely cheating](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-perfectly-accurate-halfassed-effort-writing-term-paper>), and teachers are probably right to be concerned about what this means for learning moving forward.

Ask innovate\_rye, though, and AI's just helping him focus on what he thinks is important.

"I still do my homework on things I need to learn to pass, I just use AI to handle the things I don't want to do or find meaningless," innovate\_rye told *Motherboard*.

"If AI is able to do my homework right now," he added, "what will the future look like?"

**READ MORE:** *[Students Are Using AI to Write Their Papers, Because Of Course They Are](<https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7g5yq/students-are-using-ai-to-write-their-papers-because-of-course-they-are>)* \[*Motherboard*\]

**More on GPT-Cheating:** *[This Grad Student Used a Neural Network to Write His Papers](<https://futurism.com/grad-student-neural-network-write-papers>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride."

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/mharrisondupre.bsky.social>)