S'pore unis report few cases of AI cheating, but experts warn of risks

Academics say universities must be upfront on AI use, rethink assessments to stay ahead

- Gabrielle Chan and Emerald Lo

The number of students caught plagiarising and passing off content generated by artificial intelligence as their own work remains low, the public universities here said following a recent case at NTU.

But professors are watching closely for signs of misuse, warning that over-reliance on AI could undermine learning. Some are calling for more creative forms of assessment.

Their comments follow NTU's decision to award three students zero marks for an assignment after discovering they had used generative AI tools in their work.

The move drew attention after one of the students posted about it on online forum Reddit, sparking debate about the growing role of AI in education and its impact on academic integrity.

All six universities here generally allow students to use gen AI to varying degrees, depending on the module or coursework. To uphold academic integrity, students are required to declare when and how they use such tools.

In the past three years, Singapore Management University (SMU) recorded "less than a handful" of cases of AI-related academic misconduct, it said, without giving specific numbers. Similarly, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) encountered a "handful of academic integrity cases, primarily involving plagiarism", during the same period.

At Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), confirmed cases of academic dishonesty involving gen AI remain low, but the university has seen a "slight uptick" in such reports, partly due to heightened faculty vigilance and use of detection tools.

The other universities – NUS, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and NTU – did not respond to queries about whether more students have been caught for flouting the rules using AI.

Recognising that AI technologies are here to stay, universities said they are exploring better ways to integrate such tools meaningfully and critically into learning.