Universities split over how to punish AI glasses cheating

Two students were caught using AI-powered smart glasses during essay-based admissions exams at Yonsei University and the University of Seoul, but the institutions imposed sharply different penalties, raising questions about fairness.

Yonsei discovered a student wearing smart glasses during the mathematics portion of its essay-based admissions exam Friday and ordered the student to leave, education sources said Tuesday.

The University of Seoul caught another student using similar technology during an essay exam for natural sciences applicants on Oct. 3.

Smart glasses can use cameras embedded in their frames to photograph exam questions, process them with AI and display answers or step-by-step solutions on screens built into the lenses.

Yonsei had inspected test takers wearing glasses before the exam. The student reportedly wore ordinary glasses during the inspection, then switched to the smart glasses after the test began.

The student admitted intending to cheat, and Yonsei invalidated the exam results.

The university did not immediately restrict the student’s eligibility for future admissions exams because its internal regulations do not specify such penalties.

A Yonsei official told The Korea Herald that the admissions office was discussing how to respond, saying it would follow relevant procedures as it considered options including a warning, restrictions on future admissions exams and legal action.

Any additional penalties would likely follow the guidelines for the Suneung, South Korea’s national college entrance exam, the official added.

The University of Seoul took a stricter approach, disqualifying its applicant from admission and barring the student from all admissions processes at the university for three years.

Like the Yonsei student, the applicant reportedly wore ordinary glasses during pre-exam checks before switching to smart glasses during the test.

A proctor became suspicious of the student’s unusually thick frames and asked the admissions office to verify them, leading to the discovery of the device. The student reportedly admitted to wearing the smart glasses.

“We immediately ordered the student to leave the examination room and barred them from taking our admissions exams for the next three years,” the university said.

The contrasting penalties have raised fairness concerns as universities confront the emerging threat of AI-assisted cheating, as students could face significantly different consequences depending on where they are caught.

Unlike the Suneung, which has nationwide rules on cheating and related penalties, university-administered admissions exams lack standardized disciplinary measures.

Each university largely determines what constitutes cheating and what penalties to impose under its own regulations.

The Education Ministry told The Korea Herald that it respects universities’ autonomy in administering admissions exams but sees a need to discuss whether disciplinary measures should be standardized.

The Korean Council for University Education issues basic guidelines for university admissions, which set common principles and procedures for universities.

But the guidelines do not prescribe uniform penalties for cheating with smart glasses.

“Such incidents are among the matters not specifically addressed in the basic guidelines,” a ministry official told The Korea Herald. “We need to discuss with universities whether these procedures should be standardized, and if so, to what extent and when.”

The ministry is also preparing guidelines for Suneung proctors on detecting and handling cheating involving AI-powered smart glasses.

The guidelines will be distributed this week, but the official declined to disclose details, citing concerns that test takers could use them to circumvent detection.

Seoul Education Superintendent Jeong Geun-sik said during a parliamentary audit on Wednesday that local education offices had been working with the Education Ministry and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation to develop the guidelines.

“Smart glasses have been explicitly designated as prohibited items in examination rooms, establishing a basis for taking disciplinary action against their use as a form of cheating,” Jeong said.

He added that the guidelines would be distributed in booklet and video formats, along with a brochure to help exam proctors identify smart glasses.

Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin, meanwhile, said on Oct. 7 that the ministry was pursuing measures to invalidate the Suneung results of students caught cheating with smart glasses and bar them from taking the exam the following year.