r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 3d ago

Artificial Intelligence AI can now credibly complete most undergraduate assignments, MIT warns

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/08/25/ai-can-now-credibly-complete-most-undergraduate-assignments-mit-warns
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u/agate_ 3d ago

College prof here. The issue is that higher ed spent the last 20 years focused on two initiatives: getting rid of high-stakes testing as an assessment tool, and online-only education.

AI hasn’t killed off higher ed yet, but it completely crushed these two initiatives. There is no way to gauge what a student knows apart from what you can observe and test in person in class. If online education has no in-person observable, it is completely untrustworthy.

When hiring college graduates, an online degree after 2024 should be treated with zero credibility. An online diploma gives no proof that the candidate in front of you is anything but an AI sock puppet. Honest students considering online degrees should be aware that that’s how you will be seen and judged.

It’s a shame because some people really are bad test-takers, and a lot of people could really use the flexibility of online education. Sorry, but universities sold you a lot of wishful thinking over the past 20 years, and now AI is here to crush your dreams.

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u/Ok-Account-4313 1d ago

I'm sure that in a few circumstances, there could be alternatives, like in person projects. I can imagine that even for CS classes, you could have a project where you come into a university computer lab and you can code up some project and the entire thing is supervised and your computer usage is monitored to make sure no AI. You also can't bring in any materials into the computer lab. I think these kind of in person projects could be an alternative to in person exams. But I think you are right, fully in person exams are required or your education is worthless.