
Students figured out their tests were graded by AI and the easy way to cheat - uptown
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/2/21419012/edgenuity-online-class-ai-grading-keyword-mashing-students-school-cheating-algorithm-glitch
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quantified
Love it. If their future is half-baked code judging them, gaming the system is
a necessary life skill! Grading homework is an NLU approximation to self-
driving cars, we’re nowhere near.

If I was a parent of one of those kids, I’d be really angry at the school
system to have this kind of setup.

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kvn_95
I find this really sad. I do congratulate the students that managed to figure
out the system and game them (they will go far!), but using this keyword salad
grading thing is totally missing the point of education.

I came from a third world country where the "education system" is basically
just a series of tests on memorization and conformance, and I'm hoping I would
never see a system like that ever again.

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throwawaynothx
'I came from a third world country where the "education system" is basically
just a series of tests on memorization and conformance...'

2x2 is 4... sorry third world you say?

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Treblemaker
The correct answer is "2+2 is 4"

Your score: 0/1

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fastest963
Calling it "AI" seems generous. It's really just searching for keywords. If it
was any decent AI then it could detect incoherent jumbles of words.

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0xdeadb00f
Calling it "AI" brings in the clicks

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fortran77
These school teachers are doing less and less work and demanding more and more
money -- even when schools are closed and there are bound to be some savings
to be had just on HVAC, maintenance, supplies, etc.

I'm also amazed at the cushy deal this "AI" company must have with the school
district, selling them software that just looks for a few keywords for, most
likely, very lucrative terms.

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brokenmachine
> I'm also amazed at the cushy deal this "AI" company must have with the
> school district, selling them software that just looks for a few keywords
> for, most likely, very lucrative terms.

What industry do you work in that doesn't have garbage software licensed for
top-dollar prices?

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iruoy
In history class this is what was required on certain questions of my tests. I
could have a correct answer without a certain keyword and get a lower grade on
that question because of it

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thro1
Good and practical learning.

As well, to get a job you have to put a list of keywords which will fit well
that one which the recruiter has.

That way, the AI to replace us one day doesn't have to advance toward us, we
may just easy degenerate toward it (as to succeed you have to put accurate
list of words which you don't have to understand and AI never had).

BTW, What do you call a blonde who dyed her hair black?

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ramblerman
The combination of

a) simple keyword scanning

b) prompting for thought out sentences

is downright unethical, IMO.

We have these discussions here sometimes, but if you were ever involved in a
project like that, I feel like I'd want to whistle blow, or more likely just
quit.

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tdeck
The SAT essays have been graded by computer for years. They also have a human
grader who glances at them for 2 minutes. When I learned the criteria they use
it kinda exposes what a sham the whole thing is.

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ramblerman
SATs are multiple choice, this is apples and oranges to the situation in the
article.

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lern_too_spel
The SAT added an essay section in 2005, increasing the maximum score to 2400
from 1600.

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throwaway888abc
This is new to me. Interesting.

If the teachers don't grade anymore, what they are doing with all the free
time ?

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avmich
Driving Uber. Teaching is a labor of love, it doesn't pay. /s

And in the mean time prepare plans for lessons, answer questions, bringing
resources for students use - they never were mostly or exclusively occupied by
grading.

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olliej
They’re not bringing resources - the classes are online.

I haven’t encountered this platform before, but most textbooks now come with
class plans for teachers (especially at university where they are used to kill
off second hand book sales)

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avmich
> They’re not bringing resources - the classes are online.

I mean, digital resources, bringing them ready to be used in class. Files have
to be found, or better created from others by cutting and coupling, they have
to be named, put in correct place for accessing. Even though the material
sometimes doesn't change much form a year to another, it needs to be checked
and adjusted for current class trajectory.

Teaching is a hard intellectual work. Good teaching, that is.

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pontifier
I can actually see some utility in this.

First formulate a list of keywords, then stretch them into sentences,
resulting in an information dense structure that hits all the important
points.

