British universities are reporting a sharp rise in cases of academic misconduct involving artificial intelligence. According to an investigation by The Guardian, the 2023/24 academic year saw 6,900 incidents of AI-related cheating — almost three times more than the previous year.
ChatGPT and other AI tools have become key assistants for students looking to complete assignments with minimal effort. Experts note that these algorithms can generate essay outlines, arguments, and even full academic-style texts in seconds. Many students also use various tricks — editing and “humanizing” the output — to bypass standard plagiarism detection systems.
Another growing issue is the lack of technological readiness among universities. Many institutions simply lack effective tools to detect AI-generated content, making the available statistics incomplete.
Germany currently has no nationwide statistics on the issue, but warning signs are emerging. In 2023, a student in Hamburg was caught using AI during their Abitur, the final high school exam required for university entrance — a first for the country.
Experts predict that the number of AI-related academic misconduct cases will continue to grow. The question of how to adapt educational systems to this new reality is becoming increasingly urgent — not only for the UK, but for many other countries as well.
