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Schools Shift Writing Back to Class as AI Upends Take-Home Work

Universities are telling faculty to spell out AI expectations in syllabi.

Overview

  • Teachers say undisclosed AI use is so widespread that many view take-home writing as an invitation to cheat, with one veteran English teacher calling the surge unprecedented.
  • K–12 and college instructors are redesigning assessments with in-class pen-and-paper tests, oral checks, flipped classrooms, and lockdown-browser quizzes.
  • UC Berkeley issued faculty guidance urging clear syllabus statements on whether AI is required, restricted, or prohibited to reduce confusion.
  • Carnegie Mellon advised that blanket bans are not viable without changing pedagogy, as enforcement is difficult and detectors can misfire, illustrated by a translation tool being flagged.
  • Students report uncertainty over whether summarizing readings, outlining, or editing with AI counts as cheating, and rules often differ from one classroom to the next.