Australia’s leading universities say a redesign of how students are assessed is ‘critical’ in the face of a revolution in computer-generated text, with more students turning to AI software to cheat on their exams.

Toby Walsh, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales, told Jo McManus on 6PR Afternoons, that it is the latest ‘super-duper chat bot’ that allows students to get the software to write them an essay on any topic they like.

“It can write a very convincing essay… Software like Turnitin is only checking to see if that particular text is already in use, this is actually making a new text so they won’t be able to identify it,” Professor Walsh said.

“If we do use these tools, they will become crutches. We won’t learn to be literate.”

Press PLAY to hear the full discussion