As educators around the world grapple with the effects of artificial intelligence, Mexico’s largest and best-known public university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM, has annulled thousands of exams this month that officials believe may have been completed with the aid of A.I.
While the number of test results annulled so far represents a tiny fraction of the nearly 160,000 exams submitted for spots in UNAM’s next undergraduate class, experts estimate that as many as half the tests may have involved some form of cheating.
The scandal, which erupted earlier this month, has left all prospective students in limbo as administrators suspend admissions while they investigate.
It is hardly the first time A.I. has been suspected in cheating scandals. Students have been caught using A.I.-powered smart glasses to cheat on high-stakes exams in England and South Korea. In Australia, university administrators had to abandon the use of A.I.-detection tools after they falsely accused students of using A.I. at alarmingly high rates.
In Mexico, the UNAM scandal arose in mid-July after test results revealed an unusually high number of applicants for competitive programs, such as medicine and law, had received high — even perfect — scores.
This was UNAM’s first admissions exam administered online, and it required students to use web cameras to monitor them. The university has said it moved the exam online to open up coveted spots in UNAM’s next class to more people from around the country. Only about 20,000 spots are offered each year to students other than those who attend UNAM prep high schools.
UNAM’s president, Leonardo Lomelí, said this week that the university’s priority was to uncover what had happened and “stand on the side of those who studied, who prepared themselves.”
He went on: “We are interested, first and foremost, in clarifying what happened.” He said the university was also focused on “drawing useful lessons — not only for ourselves but for all higher education institutions.”
A university spokeswoman said the results of an investigation would be released on Friday.
Raúl Rojas, an A.I. specialist and mathematician originally from Mexico who teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno, and elsewhere, said he had reviewed the results and found an improvement in scores that was “not typical.” He estimated that around half the 158,700 test takers — or about 75,000 — may have cheated while taking the online exam.
“It indicates that they may have cheated in some way,” he said in an interview, adding that because of the long period that the exam was open, answers to the questions were leaked, even sold, online. So, he concluded, it was not clear that artificial intelligence had played a central role.
The majority of cheaters, he said, probably used an old-fashioned method: “the cheat sheet.”
Along with the test takers, the company contracted by UNAM to administer the exam, Territorium Life, has come under scrutiny. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said this week the university had to get to the bottom of the scandal.
“They have to see how this fraud was committed — whether the company they hired for the exam played a role, or whether it was some individual students who used artificial intelligence,” she said.
The university had previously said the online test would be “armored by A.I.,” which would detect any possible cheating — for example, if visible headphones appeared on camera, or a camera or microphone was switched off — and send a warning.
Territorium Life did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The scandal prompted students in Mexico to gather at the university in protest this week. Some have said that they are being unfairly penalized, with their test results potentially invalidated simply because of their high scores.
Many students are demanding that the test be repeated in person. But some say that, too, is unfair.
Fernanda Belém, 20, said she had crammed for months for her exam in veterinary medicine — which she was taking for a second time — using 200 flashcards and folders of notes. She said answers circulated every year and that possible cheating was attracting “more controversy” because the test was now online. If UNAM decided to repeat tests, she said, “That would be to get swept up in the controversy.”
The new academic year is set to begin on Aug. 10, but because the test scores are under scrutiny, applicants do not yet know if they have been accepted.
Cheating tips were already circulating before the tests went live this spring.
To avoid detection by the web cameras, online accounts advised students to position monitors outside the camera frame where they could access ChatGPT or other A.I. models. Others suggested hiding earphones under their hair, or hiring someone else to take the exam, off camera.
Before the official results were released in July, UNAM filed a federal criminal complaint against companies and individuals who it said had offered such services.
Cheating schemes have been common among students and job seekers in India, where high-stakes exams can mean the difference between a path toward the middle class or long-term unemployment.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega contributed reporting.
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