London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

ChatGPT: Can students pass using AI tools at university?

ChatGPT: Can students pass using AI tools at university?

As exam season gets under way, students might be tempted to turn to new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to give them the edge in assessments.

Universities have been scrabbling to understand what AI applications such as ChatGPT are capable of and introduce guidance on how they can be used - and now, they're being urged to teach students how to use them.

Academics at the University of Bath have been considering the challenges and opportunities.

"Our first question was, 'Could this be used by students to answer our assessment questions?'" James Fern says of ChatGPT - an online tool that can answer questions, including producing essays and emails, in human-like language.

James has been looking at how robust his department's assessments are


"Multiple choice questions, for example, it will handle those very well.

"We definitely were not expecting it to do as well as it did... it was getting close to 100% correct."

But with more complex questions, which require students to think critically and which he says make up the bulk of assessment, it struggles.

One example, from a final-year assessment, reads: "Why is it important to understand the timing of exercise in relation to nutrition status in people with [a technical term, according to James] overweight?"

And there are tell-tale signs the answer given by ChatGPT was not written by a student.


"On first glance, it looks very good - it looks very clearly written, it looks quite professional in its language," James says.

But some of the statements are more like those of a GCSE pupil than a university student.

It has a habit of repeating the exact phrasing of the question in its introductions and conclusions, "just written in slightly different ways".

And when citing sources of information, as is standard in academic work, it simply makes them up.


"They look perfect - they've got the right names of authors, they've got the right names of journals, the titles all sound very sensible - they just don't exist," James says.

"If you're not aware of how large language models work, you would be very easily fooled into thinking that these are genuine references."

Since ChatGPT was released to the public, about six months ago, many students have been unsure when they can and cannot use it.

"I might be tempted to use ChatGPT... but currently, I'm too scared to because you can get caught," says one student walking between classes on campus.

"It's not clear yet what is considered cheating with ChatGPT," another says. "If you copied your whole assignment from ChatGPT that's cheating - but it can be really helpful to guide."

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said in a speech on Monday that AI was "making a difference in schools and universities already", and suggested it could help school teachers with lesson plans and marking.

New advice from Quality Assurance Agency, which reviews standards at UK universities, urges them to equip students with AI skills they can take into the world of work.

It encourages them to explain to new and returning students, in September, how and when AI should be used - and to adapt courses where appropriate.

Marketing lecturer Kim Watts calls it "another tool in the toolbox". And some students in her department have already started using ChatGPT this term, in coursework that asks them to produce a marketing plan.

Kim says ChatGPT will help get "students started on things"


"I'm suggesting that students go to ChatGPT, those who maybe don't know where to start... and start playing around with prompts," she says.

"It won't give them the answers - but it can give them ideas."


'Critical thinking'


Kim demonstrates by asking ChatGPT to produce its own marketing plan.

It responds with a series of numbered points - everything from the creation of a brand identity to the use of social media.

But Kim, looking up from her screen, says: "This will not pass.

"Submitting something like this is just not detailed enough - it doesn't show us any learning, it doesn't show any critical thinking."

Neurodivergent students and those for whom English is not their first language will benefit most from ChatGPT, Kim says.

But any student choosing to use it will be asked to submit their ChatGPT prompts and answers as an appendix, to make it "really clear how far they have come" from the chatbot answers.


Summer exams


As with most universities, Bath's policy on ChatGPT and other AI tools is still in the works. It is due to be in place from September.

After that, a team will meet throughout the year to ensure it keeps up with the rapidly changing technology.

In the meantime, many staff are once again setting in-person, invigilated summer exams.

Dr Chris Bonfield, the head of a team that helps design assessments, says the "default assumption" is students should not be using ChatGPT this year. And, if staff decide to allow it, they should clearly set out their expectations.

The pace at which the technology is evolving poses a challenge for universities - but Bath quickly moved away from conversations about banning it.

Chris says the pace at which the technology changes poses a challenge for universities



"This tool is not going away," Chris says.

"In order to ensure our students are equipped with the skills they need for the future workplace, but also that our degrees remain current, we're going to have to engage."


'Too dangerous'


Last week Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the godfather of AI, resigned from Google, saying he regretted his work - and chatbots could soon be more intelligent than humans.

Prof Verena Rieser, a computer scientist at Heriot-Watt University who has been working in the AI field for two decades, says her own students are "using it in very creative ways" - but chatbots are still in the early stages of development and "can be used to generate misinformation at [a] scale which is obviously very concerning" when it comes to education.

Previous models of ChatGPT were not released because they were deemed "too dangerous", she says.

Its developer, OpenAI, says "like any technology, these tools come with real risks" and it works "to ensure safety is built into our system at all levels".

Since ChatGPT's launch, other companies have focused their efforts on AI. Google, for example, released Bard, which is available to adults only.

"I would expect that we'll soon see different flavours of ChatGPT by different companies out there and hopefully also safer models which actually mitigate for the possible dangers," Verena says.

"At this moment we don't really know how to stop the models outputting information which is wrong or toxic or hateful - and that's a big problem."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×