Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Students at Princeton University are about to experience something they haven’t experienced since the late 19th century: someone’s presence Watch them take their exams. This change stems from concerns about the prevalence of AI-related cheating among college students.
This change goes into effect on July 1. Exams taken after that date will be proctored, which is the official term for supervision, to ensure academic integrity during the exam. Monitoring can come in many forms, including cameras, microphones, and screen sharing software. Princeton’s solution is to use human instructors to watch students take exams and then report violations to the student-run honors committee for punishment.
The shift to observation was requested by both faculty and students. According to Princeton, students were concerned that cheating using generative AI was too easy because it could happen on personal devices such as Smartphonesmaking it difficult to detect and report, according to the school Honor system. The Ivy League school also notes that reports are less frequent and often anonymous due to potential threats of retaliation via social media in the form of doxxing or other bullying behavior.
“This has made it difficult for the Honors Committee and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates to follow up on concerns, even when there is significant uproar or outrage about supposed egregious violations,” Michael Gordin, dean of the faculty at Princeton, said in the policy proposal outlining the new changes. “If students are present alone in the examination hall and students are unwilling to report, there is no check against misconduct during assessments.”
A The scan has been done Among Princeton students in 2025 it showed that nearly 30% of students admitted to cheating. “There were no significant increases in cases in which individuals were called before the Honor Committee,” despite the rise, the survey noted.
Princeton’s administration, including the Examinations and Standing Committee, voted unanimously in April to begin probation. It is the biggest change to the university’s honor system since its introduction in 1893, when it was passed specifically to end probation at the school. Students will still be expected to adhere to the honor code and will be asked to certify that they have not violated it during exams.
Advanced combat against cheating with artificial intelligence
Princeton is one of many schools making big changes because… Students using artificial intelligence. In 2024, Duke University stopped Giving numerical assessments to students’ essays as part of the admissions process. Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions at Duke University, noted that essays were once a way to better understand applicants, but with the advent of artificial intelligence, the university can no longer assume that essays accurately reflect candidates. The university still assigns numerical grades to other categories, such as curricular and extracurricular strength and test scores.
Princeton’s return to monitoring is also in line with what researchers in higher education are seeing.
“Our research shows that students already face a great deal of uncertainty about when and how it is acceptable to use AI, and that uncertainty generates real tensions around academic integrity,” said Jennifer Rubin, senior research fellow at Education Research. Foundry10. “Princeton’s decision reflects a broader pattern seen across education: institutions turn to increased oversight when existing standards feel inadequate.”
Rubin notes that moderators may alleviate “some of the immediate pressures” when it comes to cheating with AI, but more will need to be done to navigate AI effectively given its availability almost everywhere.
This is already happening in academia. Many schools have implemented tools such as Artificial intelligence detection It has strict rules on the use of artificial intelligence. It is common for schools to allow students limited use of AI for tasks such as correcting grammar, spelling in essays, and brainstorming, while making it clear that using AI to write essays or create other works constitutes plagiarism.
AI policies in schools have reached the lower grades, say nearly half of teachers in grades 6-12 They regularly use AI detection tools (PDF).
