Perfect homework: Why turning to oral exams to combat AI

Source: Inquirer
Published on: 2026-04-22 22:59

UNITED STATES -- The assignment involves no laptop, no chatbot and no technology of any kind. In fact, there's no pen or paper, either. Instead, students in Chris Schaffer's biomedical engineering class at Cornell University are required to speak directly to an instructor in what he calls an "oral defense." It's a testing method as old as Socrates and making a comeback in the AI age. A growing number of college professors say they are turning to oral exams, and combining a variety of old-fashioned and cutting-edge techniques, to help address a crisis in higher education. "You won't be able to AI your way through an oral exam," says Schaffer, who introduced the oral defense last semester. READ: Florida investigating ChatGPT role in mass shooting Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them. A big question now is how to det...

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