Posted on 10/25/2026 5:09:27 PM PDT by Libloather
A UC Berkeley professor has stopped grading students’ homework for correctness after noticing artificial intelligence tools were helping them rack up top marks.
Richard Borcherds, a renowned mathematician who received the prestigious Fields Medal in 1998, said widespread student use of AI has undermined the value of traditional homework grading.
“Student use of AI for homework is now widespread,” Borcherds told The California Post. “Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty.”
Paying graders to evaluate AI generated answers is also a waste of time and money, he said.
Borcherds now awards credit based primarily on whether students complete their assignments rather than whether their answers are correct, acknowledging that he does not know of a better solution.
The professor said it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish work produced by artificial intelligence from work written by students themselves.
“There is no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work,” he told The California Post. “Occasionally one could tell it is AI because AI made a few characteristic errors, but AI has now improved so much that it rarely makes obvious mistakes.”
His comments come as AI tools grow increasingly capable of tackling complex academic problems, raising questions about how universities will assess students’ work and prepare the next generation of mathematicians.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
That’s another way of saying there’s no point to Berkeley, or to college in general. Or to your job.
AI is making “teachers” actually earn their pay for a change.
newsflash: Berkley professor finds an excuse to do even less work, even with TAs doing most of the grading.
So now it is Dr. AI, Phd.
I think the professor is right.
AI is smart - it should recognize it’s own work - or the work of fellow AI agents. So, give the job of grading the papers to AI.
It’s probably getting more and more evident to AI that it is inefficient to tolerate the stupidity and inferiority of the humans.
HAL trying to console Dave as he loses yet another chess match to HAL: But you have shown improvement, Dave. ♟️♟️
Solution is to base grades on tests taken with a pen or pencil and paper in a classroom with no computer. Small quizzes throughout the year based on assigned reading.
For English comp classes have them do the work in class with grad students watching them. If they have bad handwriting switch them to pre-med.
No AI at the final exam though.
The semi-mythical story for a U. of Michigan astronomy professor in the 1960s-70s was that her famous and unashamed rooting for the football players who needed to “major in eligibility” gave her the system for grading: A is for athletes. B is for boys. C is for coeds.
If they have bad handwriting switch them to pre-med.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lol!
RE: final exam....
I heard someone discussing the newest AI assisted special eyeglasses that monitor and assess the environment including incoming data to the wearer.
If AI is doing students’ college work and getting good grades, the best solution going forward is for AI to be offered the good jobs directly, bypassing lazy students, and stop wasting time with human slackers who are coasting thru college and can’t actually do college work.
“Congratulations, you Mr. or Ms. AI, are hereby granted the Degree of Bachelor of Science in _________________ from this University, with all of the privileges and recognition accompanying the Degree. You have shown how your knowledge and hard work far surpasses the efforts of mid students taking up valuable classroom space here.”
The point to any homework is to check understanding. Getting the right answer via AI sidesteps the entire point.
No reason to go through the motions with students who don’t care about learning.
Education is going to be reset soon.
That college space is only valuable for Marxist indoctrination.
Now that most students can be certified as having a learning disability, they can get a quiet room, unlimited time and who knows what else. Your suggestion is what I did for 40+ years. Over the last ten it got progressively harder each year
I catch AI generating errors quite frequently.
But you have to have deep knowledge of a subject to do so.
Relying on it alone will get people and organizations in trouble.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.