A leading Dubai university plans to reinstate handwritten, tech-free exams in order to combat widespread cheating by students using the ChatGPT app.
Curtin University Dubai — a campus of Curtin University in Western Australia — is taking action after a third of students in one class were found to have used the artificial intelligence program to write their essays.
Students in the Introduction to Management class were caught out by teaching staff, who asked them to submit handwritten writing samples for comparison.
“The difference in style was very easy to spot between what they wrote themselves and the typed submissions they provided,” said Daniel Adkins, group chief executive of the Transnational Academic Group, which operates the campus in Dubai.
But the problem is so rife that universities could become obsolete in the not-too-distant future, he warned.
Mr Adkins was speaking on the sidelines of the Getex Education Forum, taking place this week at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Curtin University was in July ranked as one of Dubai's best in a league table developed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, in partnership with Quacquarelli Symonds, a UK company specialising in analysing higher education institutions around the world.
The likelihood of students being tempted to use AI programs such as ChatGPT has led to the university considering a permanent return to handwritten exams.
This would include students being supervised by staff, with oral one-to-one sessions also being part of the process.
“We’re trying to get it implemented by our curriculum committee that all exams are handwritten on paper in the future,” said Mr Adkins.
“We also want it to be the case that exams are personally invigilated so students cannot use any form of technology.”
Clamping down on cheating
The National reported in February that UAE schools were trying out new technologies to help prevent pupils from using AI to cheat their way to higher grades.
Italy became the first European country to ban ChatGPT at the start of the month, following in the footsteps of other countries including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, due to privacy concerns.
The application was launched late last year by San Francisco company OpenAI, a company cofounded by Elon Musk, who described it as “scary good”.
Online learning tools were embraced by most education providers during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many pupils learning remotely.
However, it could be time to rethink this, Mr Adkins said.
He admitted it would be a measure that would not prove universally popular with his peers.
“A lot of the exams moved online during Covid-19 and, even before ChatGPT, there were videos popping up on YouTube about how to beat the software and cheat,” he said.
“We were already getting examples of cheating before ChatGPT came along.
“We’re actually getting some resistance from faculty members because automated grading online makes their jobs easier.”
But the future credibility of universities everywhere could be compromised if the right measures of protection are not adopted, he added.
“Future employers could say they can’t trust that a person actually gained the knowledge required to achieve a degree — if that happens, then it won’t have credibility,” he said.
“If someone can easily cheat their way to a degree, then the qualification will be worthless.
“I expect all universities will return to pen-and-paper-based exams because there’s no real alternative at the minute.”
Part of the solution to the use of ChatGPT could come from how it is regulated, said Brendan Vyner, business development and student recruitment director at Amity University Dubai, speaking at the same conference.
“The big issue at the minute is who is responsible for the regulation of ChatGPT,” he said.
“That’s the thing that nobody can answer right now and why it’s banned in several countries across the world.
“There isn’t a central regulatory body for it like you would find in sectors like education.
“There needs to be assurances it is used ethically and not by the likes of hackers.”
What is Chat GPT?
The artificial intelligence-based chatbot created by San Francisco-based OpenAI, which was co-founded by Elon Musk, has been creating waves across the internet with its writing ability and responses to requests.
It has been used as a cutting-edge aid across a range of fields, from essay and poetry writing to scientific concepts to job application tasks, with the results often being posted on social media.
It can even offer possible solutions to errors in computer code.
“Its answer to the question, 'what to do if someone has a heart attack' was incredibly clear and relevant,” Claude de Loupy, head of Syllabs, a French company specialised in automatic text generation, told AFP.
“When you start asking very specific questions, ChatGPT's response can be off the mark”, but its overall performance remains “really impressive”, with a “high linguistic level”, he said.
Getex 2023 — in pictures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Results
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m; Winner: Dhafra, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Al Ajayib, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
4pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Ashtr, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Majed Al Jahouri
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Falcon Claws, Szczepan Mazur, Doug Watson
5pm: Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Al Mufham SB, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Badar Al Hajri
5.30pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m; Winner: Asraa Min Al Talqa, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The%20specs
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight (Wednesday), BeIN Sports
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Chatham House Rule
A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
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