Yes, It's That Easy

I'm amused at just how obvious this proposal to limit the misuse of AI in the classroom is.

The short version is:

• Smaller class size.
• A lighter teaching load.
• More in person classes.
• More one to one interactions with instructors.
• Greater focus on in class performance.
• An administration that backs up their instructors.

I would note that that last point is rather unsurprising given that the writer is an instructor, but it does seem to me that more personal engagement of students would reduce cheating.

Everyone agrees it is happening. Below is a handy formula to limit unauthorized AI use in the classroom, for use by faculty, administrators, and legislators alike. Some of the key variables are controlled by the institution, some by the faculty. Everyone needs to work together. 

I use the term “unauthorized,” so “cheating” is whatever the faculty member declares to be unauthorized use, understanding that in the AI era, students are fluent in AI and will seek the most efficient way to fulfill course assignments. (Most of the misconduct data is pre-LLM and is not directly applicable to today’s technology but I am assuming the same patterns hold.) 

The hundreds of conversations I have had in the past year with faculty members across the country make clear that there is almost no agreement about what AI misconduct means. Some faculty members hold that any LLM use at all is cheating; others say “go ahead and use Claude or ChatGPT, but if I can prompt your paper into existence in under 10 minutes, you fail.”

My proposed rule is flexible by focusing on AI use that is “unauthorized” by the faculty member. The institutional role is ensuring that faculty can enforce their own line.

The formula

P = 1 − (S × L × M × C × A × κ)

P is the probability that a student will use AI in a way the instructor did not authorize. P runs from 0 to 1. Zero means it won’t happen. One means it will.

The six variables are the conditions of teaching. Each runs from 0 to 1. Multiply them. Subtract from 1. That’s P.

• S — class size

• L — teaching load

• M — modality

• C — one-to-one contact

• A — assessment design

• κ — institutional culture

A 1 means the condition is fully present. A 0.1 means it’s gone.

The basic concept, that personalized education provided by instructors who are available to observe and provide individual instructions to the students, is likely true.

Reducing it to an equation, particularly one this simple, seems to be a rather silly exercise in faux mathematics.