A student has used the AI chatbot ChatGPT to write a university essay, and his lecturer said it would have passed. Pieter Snepvangers graduated from the University of Bristol last year but decided to test the AI software to see if it could be used to complete coursework.
He asked the bot to put together a 2,000-word essay on social policy, which it produced in 20 minutes. Pieter submitted the work to a lecturer from a prestigious university and was stunned to learn it would have achieved a score of 53 – a 2:2.
The lecturer said they could not be certain the essay was written by AI software, student news site The Tab reported. The lecturer admitted to finding the work a bit “fishy” with no depth or proper analysis, but said it was reminiscent of work by “lazy” students.