The University of Lincoln has been found to be amongst the top offenders for Artificial Intelligence (AI) cheating, according to Journalistic.org.
According to Stanford University, AI cheating can be defined as: “students using the technology to cheat by passing it off as their own.”
Sites such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini are commonly by students to assist them in their studies. The University of Lincoln uses the software Turnitin to ensure these sites are used in an academically appropriate way.
82 UoL students have received some sort of penalty relating to the use of artificial intelligence over the past two academic years. The most recent academic year brought with it significantly more academic penalties for the University, with 52, compared to 30 from the previous year.
This places Lincoln as the eighth most prolific University for AI cheating, in the United Kingdom.
The statistics were released after AI platform, AIPRM, sent out over 150 freedom of information requests to UK universities.
The study showed that Birmingham City University hosted the largest amount of penalised students, with 402. This comes in stark contrast to Birmingham’s Newman University, which reported no offences.
More than 80% of Universities, nationwide, have investigated students for AI related cheating, leading to a clamp down on the general use of Artificial intelligence as a research tool.
Lincoln’s, Bishop Grosseteste University, also featured relatively high on the list. 56 penalties over two years, places Lincoln’s other University as the 13th highest perpetrator in the UK.
At the other end of the spectrum, The University of Cambridge, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The University of London were examples of Universities that did hand students any academic penalties, for this type of offence.
Christopher C. Cemper, on behalf of AIPRM commented on the findings, stating that students should: “Use AI as a friend or side-kick, not a substitute for writing up your own work.”
“AI can be a great source for locating academic research, generating ideas and summarising articles,” Christopher states. However, he balances this out by saying: “Make sure that when utilising AI tools, you always ensure that the work remains your own and maintain originality.”
“AI can assist with grammar and style of writing, but do not use it to write an entire paper or section of your assignment,” emphasised the AI software representative.
The University of Lincoln has reiterated its stance on Artificial Intelligence. A spokesperson from the University stated: “Our approach to Artificial Intelligence is informed by expertise within our academic community and various reference points.”
“We support the engagement of all our academic communities with the values and principles of academic integrity.”