THE MORNING RANT: Brown University Professor Sets Trap for Students to Reveal they Cheated Using AI

When a professor at Brown University decided that mid-term and final exams would be take-home tests following the campus shooting last December, he inadvertently set a trap that revealed the seriousness of AI cheating on exams.

Professor Roberto Serrano wrote a first-hand account of the AI cheating story at The Free Press (“I’m a Brown University Professor; Half My Students Are Cheating” ) but it’s behind a paywall.

For an account of the situation without a paywall, Inside Higher Ed gave the story wide exposure last week in a piece titled “Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI to Cheat”

Here is a brief overview of the highlights (written by me, not by AI.)

• Roberto Serrano is an Economics professor at Brown, who teaches a course titled “Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory.”

• This was the first time that Serrano was going to have the mid-term and final exam be in “take-home, closed-book” format rather than in-class as they had always been.

• The mid-term exam was accessible through an online portal, and students had an 11-hour window to complete it.

• Of the 86 students who took the mid-term, 40 had perfect scores. The average score was 96. By contrast, in prior semesters with in-class exams, the average scores ranged from 65 to 80.

• By running the test through ChatGPT, Serrano found that its AI answers closely mirrored what his students had written.

With this information, Professor Serrano announced to the class that he suspected many students had cheated using AI. He then sprung the trap by announcing:

1) The final exam was now going to be in-person.

2) The mid-term results would be considered void unless the final exam had a similar distribution of extraordinary grades.

In the words of Mr. Serrano “I am not declaring [the midterm] void for now. I am going to give the class a chance to prove me wrong. That is, if the distribution of the final exam is roughly similar to the distribution of the midterm, I will count the midterm. Otherwise, which is of course what I expect to happen, I will declare the midterm void and reweigh the final accordingly.”

Following that announcement, 27 of the 86 students either dropped the class entirely, or didn’t show up for the final exam. That is a whopping 31% who pretty much admitted to cheating on the mid-term.

But it gets even funnier for those who stayed in class:

• The remaining 59 students had an average score on the final exam of just 49%, a huge dropoff from the 96% average on the mid-term.

• Serrano therefore announced that the mid-term would not be counted in their grade. A score of 40 on the final was now required to pass. (This was lower than the 50 that was his previous pass threshold.)

• 19 of the remaining 59 students failed the class.

Below the fold is a chart showing the distribution of the 59 students’ final exam grades on the left, and their extraordinary, AI-assisted mid-term grades on the right.

A few students stand out. Especially noteworthy are the two students who clearly didn’t cheat:

• Student #1 scored a 95 on both exams.

• Student #22 scored a 55 on the midterm and then improved to a 59 on the final. S/he is the only student whose grade improved on the final.

• Two students scored a 100 on the mid-term and a 0 on the final.

Historically for employers, the importance of a college degree was that it served as an aptitude test, and it also documented that graduating students had endured a rigorous, four-year (or more) credentialing program. This scholastic tenacity was assumed to translate into a solid work ethic.

At this point, a mail-order diploma is as much a signifier of aptitude as a degree earned by ChatGPT, and the brazen use of AI to take an exam is no different than hiring a scholastic ringer to take the final for you. People in my day got expelled for doing that.

An actual education has almost nothing to do with why young adults are still going to college. There is still some residual prestige to having a degree from a name-brand university, and the power of networking is still strong. Plus, there is the pull of “the college experience.” But if the majority of students have no interest in actually getting an education, then the university model has run its course.

I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because there is an assumption that their degree is fraudulent due to AI. Even sadder, those who don’t cheat are almost certainly paying the price with a below-average GPA.

With all that said, if I were hiring right now, I’d try to find out who student number 22 is and hire him. He is smart enough to be a middle-of-the-pack student, and he’s ethical enough not to cheat, even when it’s an accepted practice by virtually all of his peers.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 10:52 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 ooo, early

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:55 AM (XHO5P)

2 But still first!

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:56 AM (XHO5P)

3 Wow, that distribution suggests that maybe 3 people didn't cheat.

But what can we expect when we make men without chests?

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:58 AM (XHO5P)

4 Here! Still reading content.

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at July 17, 2026 10:58 AM (NFX2v)

5 I guess I better nood, no one will think it's already up.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:59 AM (XHO5P)

6 I've never had to nood the morning rant, though. Do I do the art thread for a nood?

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:59 AM (XHO5P)

7 Eh, people will figure it out.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (XHO5P)

8 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (8fTKG)

9 Nice to see that Brown took a break from indoctrinating their students in anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and pro-socialist dogma long enough to teach them about "Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory."
Oh, wait...

Never mind.

Posted by: proudvastrightwingguy at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (MNCvZ)

10 Sounds like solid C/C+ students will be our hope for the future.

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at July 17, 2026 11:01 AM (cWLG3)

11 With all that said, if I were hiring right now, I’d try to find out who student number 22 is and hire him. He is smart enough to be a middle-of-the-pack student, and he’s ethical enough not to cheat, even when it’s an accepted practice by virtually all of his peers.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 10:52 AM

It's hard to find that guy because that doesn't show up on a resume.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:01 AM (XHO5P)

12 In HS, I had to stop giving out a simple assignment of ten questions based on a period of history I was teaching. Why? The students would C&P the answers from the Net and they did so very poorly. (A question about Czar Nicolas I inevitably has C&P answers that pertained to Nicolas II, for example.)

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 17, 2026 11:01 AM (4g5V+)

13 I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because there is an assumption that their degree is fraudulent due to AI. Even sadder, those who don’t cheat are almost certainly paying the price with a below-average GPA.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 10:52 AM

I've decided I need to be racist when I'm picking a new doctor.

If it's a young doctor, I will only accept a white male. Because I know he didn't skate by with shoddy work.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (XHO5P)

14 Learning how to use AI.

Posted by: davidt at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (Q+gd/)

15 11 With all that said, if I were hiring right now, I’d try to find out who student number 22 is and hire him. He is smart enough to be a middle-of-the-pack student, and he’s ethical enough not to cheat, even when it’s an accepted practice by virtually all of his peers.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 10:52 AM

It's hard to find that guy because that doesn't show up on a resume.
Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:01 AM (XHO5P)

And he probably doesn’t “know people”.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (4g5V+)

16 College students cheated? Umpossible.

I've mentioned before that at the Catholic school in Oak Ridge, the good Sisters require all assignments to be done in class, with no electronics, and to be written in cursive to help keep the cheating down. The parents of the students love it.

Posted by: Tonypete at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (pyNYl)

17
I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because there is an assumption that their degree is fraudulent due to AI.

Time to switch to trade school, kiddos. You can't fake a weld, a plumbing repair, wiring a structure, and so forth.

Unless faking it is your modus operandi. Your barista career awaits you!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 11:03 AM (s9VOe)

18 I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because they were weaned on cock

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at July 17, 2026 11:03 AM (Kt19C)

19 If I were a professor, I would assign my students writing assignments that had to be explicitly racist or anti-Semitic in nature.

Because AI has been programmed to refuse these topics, students would not be able to use it to write their papers.

Posted by: Based Conservative at July 17, 2026 11:03 AM (uSpHL)

20 I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because there is an assumption that their degree is fraudulent due to AI. Even sadder, those who don’t cheat are almost certainly paying the price with a below-average GPA.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 10:52 AM

I've decided I need to be racist when I'm picking a new doctor.

If it's a young doctor, I will only accept a white male. Because I know he didn't skate by with shoddy work.
Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (XHO5P)

I say this because it's a similar dilemma: we know the universities are not a useful tool for determining competence.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:03 AM (XHO5P)

21 217
Community note
Broadcast networks have declined primetime addresses from Democratic presidents before. In 2022, ABC, CBS and NBC skipped Biden’s speech on threats to democracy for reruns. In 2014, they declined Obama’s immigration address as too political.

Damin Toell
@damintoell
16h
When Biden gave his primetime Independence Hall address in 2022 (the one with the scary red background that people still post images of), ABC ran Press Your Luck, NBC ran a Law & Order rerun, and CBS ran a Young Sheldon rerun.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2026
---

I give.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:04 AM (xHEjv)

22 I always learned more from open book tests. If I had to find the answer and apply it, it stuck

Posted by: Ventura Highway at July 17, 2026 11:04 AM (S+j2h)

23 #22?

Isn't 31 the more impressive student? Honest on the midterm and capable of learning.

Posted by: purely an academic question at July 17, 2026 11:05 AM (F/35S)

24 When I was in college, all tests were in class. I don't see a problem with returning to that system.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:05 AM (Riz8t)

25 S31 probably didn't cheat, or the midterm score would be higher.

I'm guessing s/he studied before the midterm but spent the night before finals chugging white claw and dick.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 17, 2026 11:05 AM (BI5O2)

26 Brown University is like shit heel of the ivy league. Even Stanford laughs at them.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at July 17, 2026 11:05 AM (sYM3s)

27 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (8fTKG)

This happens to me, I dream that I am not gonna graduate

Posted by: Ventura Highway at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (S+j2h)

28 I cheated at auto racing all 22 times I won

Cheating made me a lot of money

Posted by: The Ballots at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (LOZbR)

29 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater

Me too.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (lJ0H4)

30 I’m a Brown University Professor
--------

I'm annoyed at how this sentence has to be interpreted in "modern"" times. I can't keep up with their bullshit. Meanwhile the sentence is actually totally innocuous.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (/bHKT)

31 I went back to college in the 2010s for a comp sci degree. I couldn't believe how bitchy little spoiled brats the students were. And what they were allowed to get away with. The AE profs I had, just a few decades earlier, would have smiled with glee before they tore into you for showing any weakness.

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:07 AM (3uBP9)

32 The answer is go back to in-person tests either in a classroom or in a proctored testing center. Blue books and hand-written answers.

Posted by: Rick Tq at July 17, 2026 11:07 AM (xeXUW)

33 The prevalence of AI assisted/enhanced degrees, is yet another nail in the eventual coffin of credentialism. A good thing, IMO. More and more we move to "What can you do?" versus "Where did you get your credential? or What credential do you have?" In other words AI is facilitating the bursting of the "Education Bubble."

Posted by: RS at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (GYx3d)

34 always learned more from open book tests. If I had to find the answer and apply it, it stuck

Depends on the subject. Some subjects are merely regurgitation of random facts. Those are the ones most susceptible to cheating. However, when I was in STEM grad school, almost all tests were open book and take home. If you didn't understand the material, you really couldn't cheat, because it was immediately obvious you didn't understand the material. The only way to cheat would have been for someone else to take the test for you.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (Riz8t)

35 "Historically for employers, the importance of a college degree was that it served as an aptitude test, . . . This scholastic tenacity was assumed to translate into a solid work ethic."

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I'd love to see Griggs v. Duke Power Co. overturned. You know to level the playing field for ALL!

Posted by: Tonypete at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (pyNYl)

36 The answer is go back to in-person tests either in a classroom or in a proctored testing center. Blue books and hand-written answers.
Posted by: Rick Tq at July 17, 2026 11:07 AM (xeXUW)

Rectal Procter, school doctor

Posted by: Ventura Highway at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (S+j2h)

37 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (2YhKe)

38 In the BC years (Before Clankers), someone fresh out of college at least had managed to do something, e.g., pay attention long enough to graduate. Certifications could be even more specialized.

Now certifications are a 'subscribe to win' treadmill and college teaches nothing except how to cheat and party and be a commie.

The credentialism establishment can't die fast enough.

Posted by: RandomDave at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (aJQbY)

39
Open books and closed minds -- the contributions of higher education could not be more worthless.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (s9VOe)

40 Take home and open book examinations were never a good idea. The trouble with AI is that any kind of unsupervised work (e.g. term papers) is now suspect. I never much cared for essay questions on tests - thinking problem sets and short answer questions were apposite for examinations - but now they will be necessary.

Posted by: Art Deco at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (pawNB)

41 But what can we expect when we make men without chests?
Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 10:58 AM (XHO5P)

...and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.

Posted by: The feminist and tradcon agenda at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (TbWk/)

42 Some percentage of time spent in college was devoted to cheating. It's always been so. AI has made it effortless however.

It's made a lot of things that used to require actual analysis and thought, effortless.

It shows in the online and in person discourse on most anything.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (jehhT)

43 "Historically for employers, the importance of a college degree was that it served as an aptitude test, and it also documented that graduating students had endured a rigorous, four-year (or more) credentialing program. This scholastic tenacity was assumed to translate into a solid work ethic."

Historical note. Once employers were barred from giving aptitude tests (because... "racism"), they fell back on using degrees as a proxy like this. Total fucking retarded waste of societal time and money, especially since the military was exempt and has used the ASVAB for decades.

Some people are only good for digging holes or bagging groceries and pretending they can be astronauts or doctors or skilled office workers is delusional. Of course, the progs didn't wreck 3 generations with student debt exactly by accident, either. Give credit where it is due, when they start wrecking things, they realize quickly and iterate on it to wreck even more.

Posted by: heya at July 17, 2026 11:09 AM (ND37T)

44 I will admit, the internet made my career slightly easier as there's a vast wealth of knowledge there.

It's also removed the requirement for me to take notes, remember and store a knowledge base.

We're getting dumber because of technology.

YMMV

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (2YhKe)

45 I've decided I need to be racist when I'm picking a new doctor.

If it's a young doctor, I will only accept a white male. Because I know he didn't skate by with shoddy work.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:02 AM (XHO5P)

That's not racist...that's understanding the medical education system.

Personally, I add Jewish or Italian or WASP to the mix, because they are underrepresented with the double whammy of White and the wrong ethnic group.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (l4RKn)

46 > 24 When I was in college, all tests were in class. I don't see a problem with returning to that system.

Posted by: Archimedes
---

And 50 a passing grade?

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (xHEjv)

47 The prevalence of AI assisted/enhanced degrees, is yet another nail in the eventual coffin of credentialism. A good thing, IMO. More and more we move to "What can you do?" versus "Where did you get your credential? or What credential do you have?" In other words AI is facilitating the bursting of the "Education Bubble."

My daughter is a CS person, and the interview process for jobs in CS has become almost like taking a CS course in length and rigor. I guess the companies have figured out that credentials no longer mean much.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (Riz8t)

48 In tech employment, AI attitudes are schizophrenic.

In interviews a candidate using AI is verboten. But if hired, the same candidate who can’t use AI during an interview is expected to do all their work with AI. To the point where some employees are reprimanded if they use too little AI.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:11 AM (2hwDr)

49 How many teachers are using AI to grade exams?

Posted by: davidt at July 17, 2026 11:11 AM (Q+gd/)

50 I've decided I need to be racist ~~when I'm picking a new doctor~~
——-

They’ve been cultivating racial hatreds for decades now, it is absolutely vile. It sucks but they are very insistent about this.

Posted by: Getting There at July 17, 2026 11:11 AM (8fTKG)

51 If it's a young doctor, I will only accept a white male. Because I know he didn't skate by with shoddy work.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian

Based upon what I saw the last time I took classes 20 years ago, that may not be an entirely justified conclusion...

Posted by: Brother Tim sez: Fiat Justicia, Ruat Caelum at July 17, 2026 11:12 AM (OUMaO)

52 But can they still shop, drink and fuck?

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at July 17, 2026 11:12 AM (YlWIZ)

53 The answer is go back to in-person tests either in a classroom or in a proctored testing center. Blue books and hand-written answers.

Posted by: Rick Tq

=====

Seconded.

Any school that made this a policy would probably get noticed both by students and hiring managers.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at July 17, 2026 11:12 AM (4HoLg)

54 Open Book tests were hard!

Or at least they used to be. Now the book is on students' laptops, and I am confident that they cheat even on a proctored test.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (l4RKn)

55 33 The prevalence of AI assisted/enhanced degrees, is yet another nail in the eventual coffin of credentialism. A good thing, IMO. More and more we move to "What can you do?" versus "Where did you get your credential? or What credential do you have?" In other words AI is facilitating the bursting of the "Education Bubble."
Posted by: RS at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (GYx3d)

What would you say...you do here?

Posted by: The Bobs at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (TbWk/)

56 The only people I remember cheating in college were the foreigners, asians mostly, and they cheated a lot. Every homework was done as a group. They had libraries of past tests, they used every trick they could get. Still didn't do that well.

The ME foreigners were too busy trying to get their hands on white girls to take part in any cheating at all. And their goal was to stay in college with bad grades until their rich family dragged them back.

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (3uBP9)

57 Brown?

A college that brings to mind a sh*tpile.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (GC/eJ)

58 I'd love to see Griggs v. Duke Power Co. overturned. You know to level the playing field for ALL!

IIRC, there is an expectation that this is coming soon.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (Riz8t)

59 Proof-based math classes always relied on take home exams because a formal proof take a long time to develop. I wonder how AI has changed this. I think I would want to have my students meet with me independently and explain their work. That still leaves open the possibility that the student ripped the proof from AI, but at least they took the time, and the had the ability, to comprehend the work.

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2ap+5)

60
That's not racist...that's understanding the medical education system.

Personally, I add Jewish or Italian or WASP to the mix, because they are underrepresented with the double whammy of White and the wrong ethnic group.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (l4RKn)

Hello for you. My name is Doctor Manish. Please to be telling me how I can diagnose you today.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2YhKe)

61 Whatever happened to looking over the smart kid's shoulder for test answers and finding out he's as dumb as you.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (gm9Sb)

62 No wonder the 'elites' call testing "raycist."

It culls out chaff like them.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2GVsD)

63 “Following that announcement, 27 of the 86 students either dropped the class entirely”

Dropped the class during finals? In my day I had something like 3 weeks to drop classes. Past that point it was locked in and it was an F if you decided not to show up.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2hwDr)

64 AI will both be required (and prohibited).

Regurgitating only Approved Narratives, same as it ever was.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (8fTKG)

65
A college that brings to mind a sh*tpile.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (GC/eJ)

You're in San Fran. I bet you see a lot of brown every day.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2YhKe)

66
But can they still shop, drink and fuck?
Posted by: Hokey Pokey

And choose copiously among the many varieties of self disfigurement provided in today's vibrant market places?

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (s9VOe)

67 32 The answer is go back to in-person tests either in a classroom or in a proctored testing center. Blue books and hand-written answers.
Posted by: Rick Tq at July 17, 2026 11:07 AM (xeXUW)

Any good teacher can find a way to test knowledge, skills, and effort. College professors have just learned that their own laziness doesn't work anymore.

Posted by: Nova Local at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (tOcjL)

68 Does this asshole supply his stupid fucking mental fuck up indoctrination questions in the article?

I want to know what the respective exams were asking, and expecting for answers. Numbers don't tell me anything.

I'm not saying students didn't use AI. I'm saying a chart of numbers might as well as be a professor's piss stain. Show me what the exams each asked and how they were graded.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (/bHKT)

69 Take home exams in college and, wink wink, closed book?

Really?

Posted by: WisRich at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (G0vdT)

70 19 If I were a professor, I would assign my students writing assignments that had to be explicitly racist or anti-Semitic in nature.
Because AI has been programmed to refuse these topics, students would not be able to use it to write their papers.
Posted by: Based Conservative at July 17, 2026 11:03 AM (uSpHL)

You'd need to be plausibly deniable here.
Maybe something on the Bantu Expansions or intra-African slavery, better yet a defense of certain colonial projects or even a comparison between Portugal's adventures and Oman's. In the US: an indepth look at Reconstruction perhaps?
As for antisemitism, that's gay, but assigning David "Stein" Cole on proper Holocaust critique would be an epic troll.

Posted by: gKWVE at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (gKWVE)

71 "My daughter is a CS person, and the interview process for jobs in CS has become almost like taking a CS course in length and rigor. I guess the companies have figured out that credentials no longer mean much.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM"

Elder Son, M.S. Comp Sci & Math, pre AI does interviews for his company. He can spot AI phonies a mile off. Most are from the so-called blue chip STEM schools.

Posted by: RS at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (GYx3d)

72 In interviews a candidate using AI is verboten. But if hired, the same candidate who can’t use AI during an interview is expected to do all their work with AI. To the point where some employees are reprimanded if they use too little AI.

I think it means the company expects that someone will have a sufficient knowledge and skills base to know when AI gets it wrong, which it often does.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (Riz8t)

73 Heh.

This is absolutely necessary, in college and before.
We risk having our next generation learning nothing except how to query the information needed at the moment, worthless without phone/laptop/internet/AI.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (X8xt3)

74 Dropped the class during finals? In my day I had something like 3 weeks to drop classes. Past that point it was locked in and it was an F if you decided not to show up.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2hwDr)

=======

My worst nightmare in college was that I had signed up for a class that I'd forgotten to attend and now it was past the date where I could drop it.

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (2ap+5)

75 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater

Me too.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (lJ0H4)

Occasionally I have a dream where I'm back in high school. I'm wandering around, don't know where my classes are, don't know the combination for my locker, etc. Then it becomes fun since I can eventually tell if I'm dreaming. A teacher tries to give me shit for wandering around, and I'll say something like "yeah, blow it out your ass, I already graduated years ago, my diploma is old enough to vote, me go now". lol

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (S41Gd)

76 Yearlings past, sorority girls worked in professor's office, made copies of his tests and passed them to their fraternity brothers.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (xHEjv)

77 >>> Dropped the class during finals? In my day I had something like 3 weeks to drop classes. Past that point it was locked in and it was an F if you decided not to show up.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2hwDr)

There's also an (I) incomplete. Which just means the same thing and has an effect on your GPA.

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (3uBP9)

78 >>Dropped the class during finals? In my day I had something like 3 weeks to drop classes. Past that point it was locked in and it was an F if you decided not to show up.

By allowing you to Drop the course at any time, I am sure they have a higher rate of people paying to re-take the course than those that they Fail outright.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (uzmqU)

79 Shitass economics deserves to be answered by AI. The degree is worthless. Always was. The idiot isn't testing organic chemistry, the entire point of these exams is simple regurgitation. Of course the answers are easily recreated by AI.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (/bHKT)

80 Looks like 5 students did not cheat. S1, S2, S8, S22, maybe S31

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (wGerL)

81 "...I’d try to find out who student number 22 is and hire him. He is smart enough to be a middle-of-the-pack student..."

Right there in the meaty part of the curve!

https://youtu.be/M0AuU7maBMU

Posted by: George Costanza at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (2Ez/1)

82
The ME foreigners were too busy trying to get their hands on white girls to take part in any cheating at all. And their goal was to stay in college with bad grades until their rich family dragged them back.

Posted by: banana Dream

====

My experience was different. Engineering school and the ME students all but moved their desks into a circle around the person they'd be copying from.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (4HoLg)

83
There's also an (I) incomplete. Which just means the same thing and has an effect on your GPA.
Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (3uBP9)

The I, I believe, gives you a chance to retake and replace that grade. I think you can replace an F once by retaking that class as well.

Still costs you $$$$ tho.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (2YhKe)

84 There is still some residual prestige to having a degree from a name-brand university, and the power of networking is still strong.

-----------

When I entered a small private liberal arts college in 1979 -- whose economics department was considered elite and almost all believed in and taught the "Austrian School" of Economics -- the motto of the school, displayed proudly on t-shirts given to the entering freshmen each year was:

"Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and The Wall Street Journal."

Posted by: ShainS -- He of The Unnecessary Vowels! at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (9EFgU)

85 I've decided I need to be racist when I'm picking a new doctor.

I don't call it racist. I call it "looking out for my own self interest."

Posted by: NR Pax at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (99eI0)

86 >>In interviews a candidate using AI is verboten. But if hired, the same candidate who can’t use AI during an interview is expected to do all their work with AI. To the point where some employees are reprimanded if they use too little AI.

They want it both ways.
Similar to expecting candidates to be 10% qualified/experienced for a job, and when they can't find one, they hire an H1B* who learns on the job.

*We are long past the point of H1Bs being used for specialized knowledge jobs. They are now used for 7-11, entry-level university admin, resort golf course jobs, etc..

Posted by: Lizzy at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (X8xt3)

87 I want that professor to teach ethics and statistics classes.

Posted by: Roy at July 17, 2026 11:17 AM (qwype)

88 Back in my day, when blue books were made of papyrus, having an open book test didn't make things any easier because you were required to have already processed the material and be capable of synthesizing and providing critical analysis (not in the critical theory way). It was helpful to find specific facts or what have you, but if you were going to bomb the book wasn't going to help.

Posted by: Let the name of ChatGPT be stricken from every book and tablet at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (TbWk/)

89 >>>The answer is go back to in-person tests either in a classroom or in a proctored testing center. Blue books and hand-written answers.

>This was the only thing I remember. The digital age was still running on punch cards.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (sYM3s)

90 take-home, closed-book

That is the stupidist test condition I have ever heard. That would be impossible to police 40 years ago, let alone today.

Posted by: Chuck C at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (0GLZr)

91 think it means the company expects that someone will have a sufficient knowledge and skills base to know when AI gets it wrong, which it often does.
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (Riz8t)

Yeah that’s fine. But why not interview that way? Give the candidate a problem and have them solve it using AI. Then walk through the steps taken to make sure the candidate understands what the AI created.

Instead the interview questions are memorization questions.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (2hwDr)

92 73 Heh.

This is absolutely necessary, in college and before.
We risk having our next generation learning nothing except how to query the information needed at the moment, worthless without phone/laptop/internet/AI.

Posted by: Lizzy
---

Job applicants will be given pre-interview tests in a clean room.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (xHEjv)

93 This is absolutely necessary, in college and before.
We risk having our next generation learning nothing except how to query the information needed at the moment, worthless without phone/laptop/internet/AI.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (X8xt3)

I think we are better off with a generation of people who haven't bothered to learn leftist indoctrination and just queue it up from AI when they need it.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:18 AM (/bHKT)

94 I suspect nightmares are Darwin's way of ensuring you don't like to sleep too much. Imagine if all dreams were about wrestling Sophie Cunningham all night. Half of us wouldn't want to wake up

Posted by: gKWVE at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (gKWVE)

95 Students at an "Elite" school and they don't know that you don't get perfect when you cheat. SMH. What is wrong with these fools?

Posted by: fozzy at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (zH2yS)

96 "7 Eh, people will figure it out.
Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (XHO5P)"

The majority of civilizations to have ever existed said this and then proceeded to implode.

What we are doing is not working on a lot of levels, and we are headed the same way. Performative bullshit "education". Tolerating groups dedicated to our destruction. Importing hordes of cousin-fucking/street-shitting barbarians. Etc. Our nation is glaringly, blatantly more dysfunctional, poor, and violent than a mere 30 years ago.

The most I have personally managed to get out of anyone over 55 or so on these problems is "well I'll be dead so haha whatever"

It will take a lot more than just "figuring it out" for our culture and nation to exist in 2100.

Posted by: heya at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (ND37T)

97 I have an engineering professor who is playing the "arms race" against AI in his class.

Lots of students are using AI. It's an online class so it's vey easy for them to cheat, even when the instructor uses an online proctoring tool. Students are clever about getting around them.

The reality is that graduating students WILL use AI in their jobs because that is the expectation. Companies will use AI for lower-level tasks. It's up to students who want a job to demonstrate they know how to leverage AI to do the hard stuff (like geospatial engineering). And can do it better than AI by itself.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (FZ29D)

98 I don't have the college or class dreams but I still often have the naked dreams where I'm out & about and suddenly notice I'm naked and try to hide it with a piece of paper or a grocery bag hoping the people looking right at me don't notice and I'm horrifically embarrassed.

Probably a lot going on in my noggin I don't want to know about.

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (3uBP9)

99 We risk having our next generation learning nothing except how to query the information needed at the moment, worthless without phone/laptop/internet/AI.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (X8xt3)

Remember, millennials think they're the smartest generation ever because they grew up with a computer in their hand.

Then they turn around and say things like "we need a hard wired phone for times when cell phones don't work" as if they've just cured cancer.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (2YhKe)

100 Blue Books, oh, the horror.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (xHEjv)

101 Something few want to acknowledge: The famous adage that "C students run the world" (often attributed to President Harry S. Truman) continues to hold a surprising amount of truth today.

Between the PhDs I worked with, often worthless in the agency in their own right, who also worked as adjunct professors and then, when back in the office, constantly whined over grad students trying so very hard - just not cutting it - and then threatening to have their important family members speak with the Dean to have grades changed. In the end, they always changed those grades higher.

AND

Hunter Biden attending Yale Law School, transferring there after completing his first year at the Georgetown University Law Center, and graduating with his Juris Doctor (JD) degree in 1996. Working for the US Commerce Department, going into the U.S. Navy as an Officer.

Much of it was BS for years.

Class structure, family networking, DEI, weird new educational programs still holds the norms mostly in the middle.

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (NFX2v)

102 I am not a number. I am a free man!

Posted by: Student #22 at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (Cqx++)

103 At Stanford in the mid-80s, their policy for dropping a class was:

. you could drop it at ANYTIME throughout the term; including
. if you took the final exam and decided NOT to turn it in, you were considered to have dropped the class.

Posted by: ShainS -- He of The Unnecessary Vowels! at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (9EFgU)

104 The Spies Like Us cheating scene was a classic.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (wOO3z)

105 think it means the company expects that someone will have a sufficient knowledge and skills base to know when AI gets it wrong, which it often does.
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (Riz8t)

Yeah that’s fine. But why not interview that way? Give the candidate a problem and have them solve it using AI. Then walk through the steps taken to make sure the candidate understands what the AI created.

I don't disagree. That's an argument for better testing methods, which I think we all want.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (Riz8t)

106 Oral 1-on-1 in person exams beat AI every time...10 minutes a student for a 20 person class fills the 3 1/2 hour exam time...

Student can leave the oral exam and write a response back to the professor fixing anything he knew he didn't know or got wrong to earn half points back (testing effort and care, even if AI is included)...

Posted by: Nova Local at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (tOcjL)

107 >Imagine if all dreams were about wrestling Sophie Cunningham all night.

Especially the part when she points and laughs.

Posted by: davidt at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (Q+gd/)

108 All my medical "professionals" are white. Younger than me (which is pretty easy.) Even the various assistants are all white; X-ray techs, phlebotomists, PT, etc. Predominantly females. They like to discuss shoes.*

*I wear "barefoot" style kicks during the summer because I hate wearing regular shoes. So it opens up a conversation with them.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (jehhT)

109 These students are dummies.

The first rule of Cheat Club is not to get 100% of the answers correct. You have to build in a few wrong answers so it looks like you did the work yourself.

Amateurs.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (iFTx/)

110 I almost feel sorry for the kids graduating college now, because there is an assumption that their degree is fraudulent ...

-----------

* Affirmative Action and DEI hires have entered the post *

Posted by: ShainS -- He of The Unnecessary Vowels! at July 17, 2026 11:21 AM (9EFgU)

111
The reality is that graduating students WILL use AI in their jobs because that is the expectation. Companies will use AI for lower-level tasks. It's up to students who want a job to demonstrate they know how to leverage AI to do the hard stuff (like geospatial engineering). And can do it better than AI by itself.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (FZ29D)

I have yet to use AI for anything. I even close the CoPilot app when it autoloads on my computers.

I guess you can say I'm fighting it tooth and nail.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:22 AM (2YhKe)

112 the motto of the school, displayed proudly on t-shirts given to the entering freshmen each year was:

"Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and The Wall Street Journal."

Broads, Buicks and Buckley!

Posted by: Steve Dallas at July 17, 2026 11:22 AM (wBRco)

113 This was the only thing I remember. The digital age was still running on punch cards.
Posted by: Rev. Wishbone

Computer majors walking around campus with their rubber banded stacks of punch cards.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2026 11:23 AM (lJ0H4)

114 >>Especially the part when she points and laughs.

That's only was when she wrestles BananaDream.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:23 AM (uzmqU)

115 Or at least they used to be. Now the book is on students' laptops, and I am confident that they cheat even on a proctored test.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 17, 2026 11:13 AM (l4RKn)
----
Yep. Proctoring software just keeps the honest students honest. Like the lock on your front door.

Determined students are VERY clever about circumventing the proctoring software. They see it as a personal challenge.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:23 AM (FZ29D)

116 The Spies Like Us cheating scene was a classic.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at July 17, 2026 11:20 AM (wOO3z)

I watched that movie the night my mom cut her fingers off with a table saw.

"Every minute you don't tell us why you're here, we cut off a finger......"

I was a mess at that point........

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:23 AM (2YhKe)

117 13. If it's a young doctor, I will only accept a white male. Because I know he didn't skate by with shoddy work.
Posted by: Formerly Virginian

In my region, they're the biggest bangers of the DEI drums and the need to attend annual "Medicare" physicals.

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at July 17, 2026 11:24 AM (NFX2v)

118 I have yet to use AI for anything. I even close the CoPilot app when it autoloads on my computers.

I guess you can say I'm fighting it tooth and nail.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:22 AM (2YhKe)
----
I use it on a semi-regular basis. For instance, when troubleshooting HTML code that's broken or when I want to do something with HTML and it walks me through the thing I want to do.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:24 AM (FZ29D)

119 The head of the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland just resigned, and I asked one of the AI models about the guy. The guy is in his mid-50s.

The AI model correctly informed me about his being the head of the Bonneville Power Administration, and then went on to inform me that he had played baseball for the Chicago Cubs in 1969 (I believe that was his father).

Yeah, I'm going to trust AI.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (u6/wt)

120 107 >Imagine if all dreams were about wrestling Sophie Cunningham all night.

Especially the part when she points and laughs.

A man's got to know his limitations.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (Riz8t)

121 I use it on a semi-regular basis. For instance, when troubleshooting HTML code that's broken or when I want to do something with HTML and it walks me through the thing I want to do.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:24 AM (FZ29D)

I can see that. I don't do programming or code anymore, so it's easier to avoid.

I'm more of a grunt these days.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (2YhKe)

122 You're in San Fran. I bet you see a lot of brown every day.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:14 AM (2YhKe)
=====

Which is why Imma expert!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (GC/eJ)

123 Something few want to acknowledge: The famous adage that "C students run the world" (often attributed to President Harry S. Truman) continues to hold a surprising amount of truth today.

///

This is true. But it’s not because people who run the world are dumb. The C students who run things spent their time networking and building relationships instead of spending their nights in the library getting As.

That network and a 3.0 GPA is far more valuable than the 4.0 GPA.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (2hwDr)

124 Even sadder, those who don’t cheat are almost certainly paying the price with a below-average GPA.

------------

My understanding from some time ago (assume it hasn't changed unless it's gotten worse) is that owing to "grade inflation," virtually nobody at an "elite" university gets a grade below a "B" [using Grok to confirm: "Grades below B do exist but are uncommon overall, and the distribution is heavily compressed at the top"].

Posted by: ShainS -- He of The Unnecessary Vowels! at July 17, 2026 11:26 AM (9EFgU)

125 have yet to use AI for anything. I even close the CoPilot app when it autoloads on my computers.

I guess you can say I'm fighting it tooth and nail.

Same, but then, my job doesn't depend on my ability to use AI. Retirement is bliss.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

126 "Oh no, Sophie.... YOU WIN AGAIN!!!"

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:26 AM (/bHKT)

127 In law school, my torts final was a 3-day take home, open book. This was 1993. I picked my exam up around 10 a.m., back to my grad student dorm room by 10:15. 11 a.m. my law school classmate in a nearby dorm room comes in and asks if I also think the exam is hard. I say, "no". As he comes closer to my desk he cries out, "Are you drinking a beer???" "Yes. You want one?" It was 3-day take home. I had several beers. He had none. (I got the 3rd highest grade on the exam.)

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at July 17, 2026 11:26 AM (DZ9Lv)

128
My (now long over) education nightmare was being told that I could not finish working on my Chemistry Ph.D. because the school learned that I had not taken an English class to satisfy that requirement for my Batchelor if Science degree. (I had done so, but for only one academic quarter because I had been well schooled in writing in high school.)

That foolishness plagued me over the course of about six months before my sleeping self gave it the boot. All this occurred decades after I had left higher education behind.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (s9VOe)

129 75 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater

Me too.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2026 11:06 AM (lJ0H4)

I had this same recurrent nightmare for more than a decade after finishing school (much prolonged by law school afterward) plus variants, like: an hour late to the final due to sleeping through alarm; stopped reading books for a course in the English department early in the semester and now had to read a half dozen or so novels while cramming for other courses. On and on. I sometimes wonder about my sanity. Doesn't seem like something that should haunt you for that long.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (tgl2u)

130 Did someone say oral exam?

Posted by: Ms. Fluke at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2hwDr)

131 By allowing you to Drop the course at any time, I am sure they have a higher rate of people paying to re-take the course than those that they Fail outright.
Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:16 AM (uzmqU)

Colleges largely aren't in the education business they're in the tuition collecting business. It's the enshittification model yet again.

Posted by: Fleece fleece fleece some more at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (TbWk/)

132 AI was very useful in helping me do some plumbing around the house and bringing an old refrigerator that had sat unplugged in the basement for years back from the dead. It does require a bit of common sense because it is completely wrong from time to time.

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2ap+5)

133 Looking for a better outcome? Test their shopping, drinking and fucking. Oh, wait. Just search browser histories.

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at July 17, 2026 11:28 AM (YlWIZ)

134
Which is why Imma expert!
Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (GC/eJ)

What can brown do for you.......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:28 AM (2YhKe)

135 You'd need to be plausibly deniable here.

Posted by: gKWVE at July 17, 2026 11:15 AM (gKWVE)

Oh, it couldn't be done in actuality. You'd be fired within 8 minutes of handing out the assignment.

But in debate classes/competitions, you are often given a topic you do not necessarily believe and asked to defend it.

And you are often asked to write in creative writing classes from a third person perspective, imagining yourself as a person you aren't.

It wouldn't require that you actually be racist or anti-Semitic, merely that you write papers defending those positions or write papers from the "perspective of a racist".

These would both be things that AI refuses to do, and you would actually be able to gauge the students ability to write a persuasive paper, a defense of a thesis, or a 3rd person fiction narrative.

Posted by: Based Conservative at July 17, 2026 11:28 AM (uSpHL)

136 >>> The reality is that graduating students WILL use AI in their jobs because that is the expectation. Companies will use AI for lower-level tasks. It's up to students who want a job to demonstrate they know how to leverage AI to do the hard stuff (like geospatial engineering). And can do it better than AI by itself.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 17, 2026 11:19 AM (FZ29D)

I don't trust other engineers, I also don't trust myself. I require easy to follow exposition on anything anyone is doing every time. I even have to convince myself of what I'm doing constantly. I will poke and pry to break anything to see if it still holds up. I do this while sleeping at night over the analysis I did the day before. Why would I ever trust some linear system goal seeking to make me happy using statistically derived montecarlo models of trust systems?

And maybe that's a real big problem. People will lose the ability to convince. As an engineer that is your biggest challenge. Convince others you know what you are doing and aren't a dummy. If you are not "doing" anymore how well do you think you'll be at "convincing"?

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:29 AM (3uBP9)

137 My (now long over) education nightmare was being told that I could not finish working on my Chemistry Ph.D. because the school learned that I had not taken an English class to satisfy that requirement for my Batchelor if Science degree.

Heh. Mine was that they were "taking back" my PhD for unspecified reasons. I suspect it's a symptom of Imposter Syndrome.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:29 AM (Riz8t)

138 Hunter Biden attending Yale Law School, transferring there after completing his first year at the Georgetown University Law Center

I still think that the Trump Administration should do a simultaneous SWAT raid at 2 AM of the admissions departments of all prestigious universities to seize the records.

I'm sure that the notes to Chelsea Clinton's admission to Stanford, for example, are just hilarious.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (u6/wt)

139 Doctors, minimum age 45.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (xHEjv)

140 I have yet to use AI for anything. I even close the CoPilot app when it autoloads on my computers.

I guess you can say I'm fighting it tooth and nail.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:22 AM (2YhKe)

You and me both.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (S41Gd)

141 Doctors, minimum age 45.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (xHEjv)

F*ck you.

Posted by: Doogie Howser at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (2YhKe)

142 Then they turn around and say things like "we need a hard wired phone for times when cell phones don't work" as if they've just cured cancer.
——

Some silly broad on X was talking about the absolute necessity for a similar wireless device for authorities to get important information out to the public during emergencies or natural disasters.

“Radio. You’re talking about radios”. It was hilarious.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (8fTKG)

143 AI was very useful in helping me do some plumbing around the house and bringing an old refrigerator that had sat unplugged in the basement for years back from the dead. It does require a bit of common sense because it is completely wrong from time to time.

Did you realize it was wrong when it told you to strip and sit on the compressor to hatch an egg?

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (Riz8t)

144
You and me both.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (S41Gd)

I'm trying to bide my time until I either retire or don't have to work in the IT world anymore.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:32 AM (2YhKe)

145 >>You and me both.

Pure of Blood and Pure of Mind.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:32 AM (uzmqU)

146 Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (tgl2u)

That stuff is usually a throwback to something quite traumatic that happened to you. But it's very likely NOT that similar or only a little similar. So it didn't have to have happened in school (although it might have if for example you got a call with bad news while you were in school or moving or preparing for something important).

So if you think about a time when you were unprepared or realized there was too much to do to solve something (usually something kind of very awful that got sprung on you) - you might be able to consciously put it to bed and never have that dream again.

Basically - point your brain to a rather traumatic episode that you can say roughly matches the feeling the dream gives you. Connect them consciously. The dream keeps wanting to tell you it doesn't know what to do with that thing. Once you see it, if you in fact have the right event (you'll know), the dreams will stop.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:32 AM (/bHKT)

147 Griggs v. Duke Energy IIRC is the source of forcing everyone to go to college.

Was thinking, why so many accepted the loss of manufacturing jobs:
"MY child is going to college and is NOT going to work in a factory."

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at July 17, 2026 11:32 AM (3cUTc)

148 Did you realize it was wrong when it told you to strip and sit on the compressor to hatch an egg?
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:31 AM (Riz8t)

======

Are you saying I've been wasting my time here?

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (2ap+5)

149 That network and a 3.0 GPA is far more valuable than the 4.0 GPA.
Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:25 AM (2hwDr)
=====

Where were you when I was a drunken freshman.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (GC/eJ)

150 >>> That's only was when she wrestles BananaDream.
Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:23 AM (uzmqU)

no no, not that dream again...

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (3uBP9)

151 Well, my first almost week of radiation treatments is over. Sadly, I'll have to spend two days where some cute young woman isn't going to ask me to drop my pants.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (ExV1e)

152 I was skeptical about AI for a long time. Then gradually started using it. Now I can’t imagine life without it.

At work what used to take an hour can now be done in minutes. Not everything, but a lot.

Which is good and bad of course. It’s good for me now because I can do a lot of fucking off. But it’s bad long term since eventually employers will realize they no longer need me. But I’ll be retired by then hopefully. 😀

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (2hwDr)

153 What can brown do for you.....
Marry me Eva!
- hitler

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at July 17, 2026 11:34 AM (KlUCT)

154 138. Posted by: The ARC of History!

👍

But only in our dreams.

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at July 17, 2026 11:34 AM (NFX2v)

155 Well, my first almost week of radiation treatments is over. Sadly, I'll have to spend two days where some cute young woman isn't going to ask me to drop my pants.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:33 AM (ExV1e)

At least you've got something to look forward to next week.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:34 AM (2YhKe)

156 Mine was that they were "taking back" my PhD for unspecified reasons.

Although you graduated with a perfect GPA, during a random audit we discovered that you took a class without having taken the required prerequisite for that class. That invalidates your Bachelor's degree which then invalidates your Master's degree and that invalidates your PhD

Posted by: Chuck C at July 17, 2026 11:34 AM (0GLZr)

157 Don't tell Ace, but I just finished up a 36 hour fast.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:35 AM (uzmqU)

158 In the last class I taught at the University where I don't teach any more except for when I need beer money, i deliberately created a test for using AI. I didn't announce it to the class and it was an in-class test. The results were about what I expected. One guy was up and out in less than 5 minutes. The rest of the class, except one, were looking around wondering WTF??? So they relooked the instructions and voila! Exams started rolling in. All except my foreign (Chinese) student. She sitting there busting her butt looking up stuff and trying to write. I quietly pointed out the instructions and she was stunned.
I found the whole exercise insightful.

Posted by: Diogenes at July 17, 2026 11:35 AM (2WIwB)

159 "But in debate classes/competitions, you are often given a topic you do not necessarily believe and asked to defend it."

LOL - that's where the counterintuitive position comes in. Academic debate competitions these days aren't close to what they were before the internet.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at July 17, 2026 11:37 AM (DZ9Lv)

160 Isn't 31 the more impressive student? Honest on the midterm and capable of learning.

Posted by: purely an academic question at July 17, 2026 11:05 AM (F/35S)

You have it backward. The orange dot is the midterm score so their grade decreased by 17 points.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:37 AM (ExV1e)

161 I know this sounds like Crazy Talk, but I took great satisfaction in doing my own work, doing the studying, and mastering the material, Finals are still stressful, but then you find out the Grades Have Been Posted, and you got an “A”. Professors are human too (well most of them) and I’ve no doubt they tend to cut a little slack to those making honest effort and not trying to get over.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:38 AM (8fTKG)

162 Handwritten, in-person exams--that's all that is needed.

On the other side, teachers and professors are now using AI to grade tests.

And there is the issue of AI, each iteration getting worse than the one before. Something like it's cutting the tails off so all that's left is the most common.
And then next generation trains on that and cuts more off the ends.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at July 17, 2026 11:39 AM (3cUTc)

163 >>Professors are human too (well most of them) and I’ve no doubt they tend to cut a little slack to those making honest effort and not trying to get over.

I found the best path was to always take advantage of Office Hours and spend some time with the Profs.

Take the opportunity to discuss the materials and test your knowledge while establishing a decent relationship with the Professor.

Worked like a charm.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (uzmqU)

164 nd there is the issue of AI, each iteration getting worse than the one before. Something like it's cutting the tails off so all that's left is the most common.
And then next generation trains on that and cuts more off the ends.

Some clever soul called this the AI ouroboros.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (Riz8t)

165 I'm old enough to remember when you asked Google AI for a picture of George Washington and it gave you back a black broad with British style wig.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (2YhKe)

166 @17 You can't fake a weld, a plumbing repair, wiring a structure, and so forth.

The hell you say.
You people must live in a bubble. Jesus Christ Almighty.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (zdLoL)

167 >> You can't fake a weld, a plumbing repair, wiring a structure, and so forth.

You can. But, if you aren't in a Union you risk losing your job.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:41 AM (uzmqU)

168 My scholastic nightmares are usually that I didn't take some required high school class and therefore my HS diploma was invalid, therefore my undergraduate degree was invalid, therefore my post-grad degree was invalid, therefore I had to go back and take the high school class.

Then there's also going back to college decades later and finding that I still have a key to my room there and a boatload of stuff in it that I need to remove. The remainder of the dream is an exercise in futility and I can never successfully get my stuff.

Posted by: Unresolved baggage and unfinished business at July 17, 2026 11:41 AM (TbWk/)

169 My daughter is a CS person, and the interview process for jobs in CS has become almost like taking a CS course in length and rigor. I guess the companies have figured out that credentials no longer mean much.
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:10 AM (Riz8t)

A lot of places have gone to requiring a (paid) internship prior to getting hired. For this very reason.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:41 AM (ExV1e)

170 I had a colleague, much better programmer than me, who had to take "Intro to Computer Programming 101" his senior year because of the prerequisite issue. This was while he was completing his senior class project. Luckily, that class's professor realized the absurdity and told him to just show up to take the midterm and final.

Posted by: Chuck C at July 17, 2026 11:42 AM (0GLZr)

171 165 I'm old enough to remember when you asked Google AI for a picture of George Washington and it gave you back a black broad with British style wig.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (2YhKe)

As we learned this summer, she's the Ben Franklin spitting image.

Posted by: Nova Local at July 17, 2026 11:42 AM (tOcjL)

172
As we learned this summer, she's the Ben Franklin spitting image.
Posted by: Nova Local at July 17, 2026 11:42 AM (tOcjL)

See? Even AI gets it wrong. Ben was a black woman. NOT George Washington.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:43 AM (2YhKe)

173 Worked like a charm.

Posted by: garrett at July 17, 2026 11:40 AM (uzmqU)

The key is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:43 AM (/bHKT)

174 Based upon what I saw the last time I took classes 20 years ago, that may not be an entirely justified conclusion...
Posted by: Brother Tim sez: Fiat Justicia, Ruat Caelum at July 17, 2026 11:12 AM (OUMaO)

I was teaching 20 years ago. It's very different now.

Also, if they were taking classes 20 years ago, they don't qualify as "young doctor".

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at July 17, 2026 11:43 AM (XHO5P)

175 The only people I remember cheating in college were the foreigners, asians mostly, and they cheated a lot.

Specifically, Chinese and Indian. Saw them blatantly cheat during in-class exams. The Japanese and Korean seemed to do things the right way.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (ExV1e)

176 “You can't fake a weld, a plumbing repair, wiring a structure, and so forth.”

My house says otherwise lol.

I bought an old house that needed mucho renovations. My contractor used the phrase”what the fuck were they thinking” many man maaaaany times throughout the project.

Posted by: Clown World at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (2hwDr)

177 Thx Buck
Years ago before he started huffing his own farts, George will write a column about a history professor who did something similar but with ideology ( don't recall if it was U of Mich or Wis)
The professor showed an old black and white vid of combat with a narrator say " here are the rebels going over the top and charging enemy lines"
The students cheered the rebels. The professor stopped the vid and said "so you support the rebels". They cheered. Then he said "the rebels are Franco's Fascists." "Learn context"

Posted by: Smell the Glove at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (OXYE0)

178 > have yet to use AI for anything. I even close the CoPilot app when it autoloads on my computers.
----------
You can disable that, you know. Assuming it's on your home or non-managed PC.

Open up Settings and go to Apps. Then click on Installed Apps and find CoPilot in the list. Click on the 3 dots to the right, select "uninstall."

It will likely reinstall itself after every Windows Update, but for the duration it'll be disabled.

You can also edit the registry and kill it there. Again, assuming it's a home PC and not part of a corporate network.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (jehhT)

179
The key is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:43 AM (/bHKT)

Either that, or have tits and give good blow jobs.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (2YhKe)

180 I think we are all struggling with AI and how it can be a useful tool in education and work environments. If these students had spent time reading what AI told them, and checking sources provided by AI, they may have actually learned a little bit. They would have learned AI can be wrong, too.

Posted by: Piper at July 17, 2026 11:46 AM (hftzA)

181
It will likely reinstall itself after every Windows Update, but for the duration it'll be disabled.

You can also edit the registry and kill it there. Again, assuming it's a home PC and not part of a corporate network.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (jehhT)

I'm aware how to, but it's mostly work stuff and I can't modify that, so I just exit it.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:46 AM (2YhKe)

182
Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater

40 years after leaving Ft Benning, I STILL suffer from the Basic Training Trying To Find A Clean Uniform nightmare from time to time.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 17, 2026 11:46 AM (iqcvy)

183 if you aren't in a Union you risk losing your job.

Speaking of which:
Fear of humanoid robots spurs human workers to strike at Hyundai auto factory

Thousands of unionized Hyundai auto workers began walking off the job early after negotiations with the South Korean automaker broke down over plans to deploy humanoid robots—the most significant pushback from organized labor so far over the latest wave of robotic automation.

https://tinyurl.com/y93kkve4

These are hardworking Koreans, so if they're worried, the UAW should be terrified. Thus far, their response is to call automation a witch.

But labor unions in both South Korea and the United States clearly want to see stronger commitments from automakers in the face of such automation efforts. The UAW recently criticized GM for installing about 50 new robot arms at the automaker’s flagship electric vehicle factory in Detroit after laying off more than 1,300 workers as a supposedly temporary measure.

During the UAW Convention held in Detroit in June 2026, UAW President Shawn Fain also warned against “the threat of humanoid robotics and mass automation” undermining worker employment and compensation.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:47 AM (Riz8t)

184 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!
Posted by: Common Tater

I occasionally have one where I know I have a specific class, but I haven't been to it in a while and don't remember where it is.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:47 AM (2YhKe)

185 The professor showed an old black and white vid of combat with a narrator say " here are the rebels going over the top and charging enemy lines"
The students cheered the rebels. The professor stopped the vid and said "so you support the rebels". They cheered. Then he said "the rebels are Franco's Fascists." "Learn context"
Posted by: Smell the Glove at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (OXYE0)

[raises hand] . . . Um . . .

Posted by: Kindltot at July 17, 2026 11:48 AM (rbvCR)

186 At NYMag: "I Got a Beard Transplant So I’d Be Taken Seriously at Work"

tl;dr: Job title is 'Carnival Bearded Lady.'

Posted by: gp at July 17, 2026 11:48 AM (Jr5Lq)

187
[raises hand] . . . Um . . .
Posted by: Kindltot at July 17, 2026 11:48 AM (rbvCR)

Yeah, he spelled Democrats wrong.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at July 17, 2026 11:48 AM (2YhKe)

188 Wow, that distribution suggests that maybe 3 people didn't cheat.

But what can we expect when we make men without chests?
Posted by: Formerly Virginian

No, just the two. It also shows even the smarter ones will cheat, just to keep up if for no other reason.

Posted by: From about That Time at July 17, 2026 11:49 AM (sl73Y)

189 > I'm aware how to, but it's mostly work stuff and I can't modify that, so I just exit it.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer
--------
Got it.

I worked for DoD (DoW) and the workstation I used was locked down tight. Sucked. Couldn't use home PC for anything other than WebMail through Outlook. And that only worked when it felt like it.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 17, 2026 11:49 AM (jehhT)

190 >>>Computer majors walking around campus with their rubber banded stacks of punch cards.

Posted by: Tuna

>Ha. Actually I got in and had one of the original Macs, no hard drive. But I like to bust their balls. Still, back the then the original data centers were rooms filled with reel-to-reel tape readers. We'd bring them in on pallets and have a dedicated staff of women loading tapes.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at July 17, 2026 11:49 AM (sYM3s)

191 I know I'm a closed minded bigoted luddite lazy shiftless intellectually incurious arsehole, but what the HELL is there to learn about welfare economics and social justice or whatever bullshit this idiot thinks he's an "expert" in? Be honest. Has it actually made an impact on the world, or is it just lesbian masturbation porn for communist HOA wannabe fuckheads?

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 11:50 AM (/bHKT)

192
The previous owners of our home -- the male, actually -- was a firm believer that cove molding paired with an adhesive was the preferred method to repair just about anything. Wrapping leaky duct joints with carpet padding and tying it off with clothesline earned high honors, too.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 11:51 AM (s9VOe)

193 I always felt though the teachers that complained the loudest about cheating were usually too lazy to make it harder to cheat.

A take home exam is a good example. Of course people are going to cheat on that. Even before AI.

I had a teacher in HS that constantly warned and complained about students cheating in her class. The reasoning? She had the same tests for like 25+ years straight. Like word for word. Everybody had an old copy of one. She knew this, but still wouldn't at least change them around a little bit. Just warned everybody about not cheating.

Posted by: Sharpie at July 17, 2026 11:51 AM (Bjzmv)

194 Woa, tell us how you really feel ellipsis. Don't hold back

Posted by: Kindltot at July 17, 2026 11:51 AM (rbvCR)

195 AI was very useful in helping me do some plumbing around the house and bringing an old refrigerator that had sat unplugged in the basement for years back from the dead. It does require a bit of common sense because it is completely wrong from time to time.

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2ap+5)

It can be catastrophically wrong sometimes.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (S41Gd)

196 Sounds like solid C/C+ students will be our hope for the future.
Posted by: Chairman LMAO
------

That may have been the case for a long time. When I was at school, the Gentleman's 'C' was regarded as nominal.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (XeU6L)

197 Once in a while, I’ll still have a dream (nightmare?) where I have a Final Exam and I’d completely forgotten to go to that class all semester. Oops!

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:00 AM (8fTKG)
==
Oh I have had that dream many times. I learned early, some classes made sense to attend and some were better just working in the text book and showing up for exams and quizzes. Of course, you still needed to know the material, no internet back in the stone age when I went to school.

Posted by: Black JEM at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (GZYu7)

198 The previous owners of our home -- the male, actually -- was a firm believer that cove molding paired with an adhesive was the preferred method to repair just about anything. Wrapping leaky duct joints with carpet padding and tying it off with clothesline earned high honors, too.

I...have no response to that.

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (Riz8t)

199 Doctors, minimum age 45.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (xHEjv)

My radiotherapist looks like he's late 20s but he looked that way 7 years ago when he was my wife's radiotherapist.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (ExV1e)

200 There was a big data storage company that would only hire C students with extracurricular activities for their salesforce . Theory was the brainiacs didn't make good sales people.

Posted by: polynikes at July 17, 2026 11:53 AM (/WQyy)

201 168 My scholastic nightmares are usually that I didn't take some required high school class and therefore my HS diploma was invalid, therefore my undergraduate degree was invalid, therefore my post-grad degree was invalid, therefore I had to go back and take the high school class.

========

In grad school, one of my classmates close to finishing his PhD program was notified that his undergrad university has rescinded his BS because he didn't meet the freshman English requirement and slipped through the cracks when given approval to graduate. Because everyone refused to bend the rules, he had to take leave for a semester, return back to his old uni and take the required class. We joked that he should double check with his high school too.

Posted by: justALurker at July 17, 2026 11:53 AM (4jnbQ)

202 And acquaintance from my High School get admitted and attended Brown in the Fall of 1973.

He was a very sharp guy. Oh how Brown has fallen.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 17, 2026 11:54 AM (qFwJc)

203 The reasoning? She had the same tests for like 25+ years straight. Like word for word. Everybody had an old copy of one.
-------

I recall that fraternities had years of exams/quizes on file, for use by the brothers as references.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 11:54 AM (XeU6L)

204 Bravo to students 1 and 22 and, perhaps 31. Integrity deserves to be rewarded. (31 might just be a smarter cheater.)

Posted by: Cybersmythe at July 17, 2026 11:55 AM (aTl7+)

205 I'd love to see Griggs v. Duke Power Co. overturned. You know to level the playing field for ALL!

Posted by: Tonypete at July 17, 2026 11:08 AM (pyNYl)
==
It's time is coming.

Posted by: Black JEM at July 17, 2026 11:55 AM (GZYu7)

206 I...have no response to that.
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:52 AM (Riz8t)

Yeah what was he thinking when there's Flex Tape!

Posted by: polynikes at July 17, 2026 11:56 AM (/WQyy)

207 eventually employers will realize they no longer need me
_-_
Manager: Nope. You know those four projects that were due next week? You now have eight of them that are due by"Tuesday week or you don't get paid!"

Posted by: Don in SoCo at July 17, 2026 11:56 AM (JWDez)

208 In my final semester of senior year of college, I took a class that I thought was graded solely on a take-home final exam.

"No sweat," I thought. "I can bag this entire thing and just ace the test."

So I never went to class. A few days before the exam, I get called to the professor's office. He informs me that the grade is not based only on the final, but also on a midterm and class participation. Oh, and the final is not take-home. It's in-class.

I shit a brick. I didn't take the midterm, because I didn't know about it, and I failed class participation because I was never there.

Professor says I need to ace the final or I fail the class. If I fail the class, I won't get credit for the course, and I won't graduate because I need those credits.

I was shitting bricks like howitzer rounds.

I had to learn the entire course in about 72 hours. I crammed for the exam in the most grueling, most gruesome 72 hours in the history of education. Pretty much no sleep.

I apparently aced the test because the professor gave me a B- for a final grade.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at July 17, 2026 11:56 AM (iFTx/)

209 UAW President Shawn Fain also warned against “the threat of humanoid robotics and mass automation” undermining worker employment and compensation.
———

That’s where all those millions and millions of unskilled, illiterate illegal aliens pouring across the open borders makes a lot of sense.

Posted by: Common Tater at July 17, 2026 11:57 AM (8fTKG)

210 So I never went to class. A few days before the exam, I get called to the professor's office. He informs me that the grade is not based only on the final, but also on a midterm and class participation. Oh, and the final is not take-home. It's in-class.

a real life Jeff Winger!

Posted by: Black Orchid at July 17, 2026 11:57 AM (j+aD2)

211 The reasoning? She had the same tests for like 25+ years straight. Like word for word. Everybody had an old copy of one.
-------

I recall that fraternities had years of exams/quizes on file, for use by the brothers as references.
Posted by: Mike Hammer

==

And some student in every class would always have an older sibling that had saved the old tests because she handed them back with the grade.

This teacher wouldn't even change up the order of the questions.

Some would literally memorize "a,c,c,d,a,c..." etc and then ace the test.

If anything it was more of an indictment of the teacher.

Posted by: Sharpie at July 17, 2026 11:58 AM (Bjzmv)

212 Some would literally memorize "a,c,c,d,a,c..." etc and then ace the test.

If anything it was more of an indictment of the teacher.

It absolutely was an indictment of the teacher. Did she not think anything was amiss when students finished the test in 30 seconds?

Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 12:00 PM (Riz8t)

213
I...have no response to that.
Posted by: Archimedes

As the home inspector and I went through the premises, Stan (the owner) was bird dogging us and getting more and more pissed off as the inspector racked up the many deficiencies. He wanted the inspector to be fired and expelled from the property. Our realtor had to corral him and remove him from our presence while telling him, "The inspector doesn't work for you, he works for the buyer."

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 12:00 PM (s9VOe)

214 I think more than 3 didn't cheat.

Take home vs in class, the mid term could likely have been an easier environment (I don't know the wholes story)

There are a few in there where yes the mid term they performed better, but didn't tank the final either.

However, the point of the story is still valid... so I suppose I'm just listening to myself pontificate.

Most of the class cheated, obviously.

Posted by: Inogame at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (53oGX)

215 >>> There was a big data storage company that would only hire C students with extracurricular activities for their salesforce . Theory was the brainiacs didn't make good sales people.
Posted by: polynikes at July 17, 2026 11:53 AM (/WQyy)

Sales guy to hardware engineers: So yeah, she was really hot so I said we'd provide one of our new 80 doggobyte racks and...

(engineer raises hand) What's a doggobyte?

Pshah! Like I know bro, you just stuff 80 of them in a box by close of business Friday because me and CIO babe have a date. Alright bros, later...

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (3uBP9)

216 "I am really upset that so much cheating occurs."

"Then why do you make it so easy?"

Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (qFwJc)

217 If anything it was more of an indictment of the teacher.

Sounds like you're bad mouthing the United States of America! -- Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman, Damn glad to meet you.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (ExV1e)

218 My radiotherapist looks like he's late 20s but he looked that way 7 years ago when he was my wife's radiotherapist.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic
------

My primary care guy of 20 years took early retirement after Obamacare became a reality. The practice plugged in a young guy who we came to call Doogie Houser. Nice guy, probably qualified and competent, but simply lacked confidence-inspiring experience in contact with the patients.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (XeU6L)

219 But we must always defer to the moral superiority and civic wisdom of our Ivy League betters.

Posted by: Ordinary American at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (t+TFX)

220 Back in the day, at UCSD, we NEVER got a "take-home" exam.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 17, 2026 12:02 PM (qFwJc)

221 Historically for employers, the importance of a college degree was that it served as an aptitude test, and it also documented that graduating students had endured a rigorous, four-year (or more) credentialing program. This scholastic tenacity was assumed to translate into a solid work ethic.
---
It was when they banned IQ tests for employment, that employers started wanting to see a college track record.

Posted by: Axeman at July 17, 2026 12:03 PM (Fi81e)

222 My primary care guy of 20 years took early retirement after Obamacare became a reality. The practice plugged in a young guy who we came to call Doogie Houser. Nice guy, probably qualified and competent, but simply lacked confidence-inspiring experience in contact with the patients.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 12:01 PM (XeU6L)

My guy was the one who, when told that the other radiotherapist had indicated a need for hormone treatment when he hadn't, responded with, "Well, I'm looking at the biopsy report and you don't need them." No lack of confidence at all.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2026 12:04 PM (ExV1e)

223 Take home exam? Are you kidding me?

Posted by: Ordinary American at July 17, 2026 12:04 PM (t+TFX)

224
It absolutely was an indictment of the teacher. Did she not think anything was amiss when students finished the test in 30 seconds?
Posted by: Archimedes

==

People were more savvy than that, they'd take your time, miss a few, etc.

The reality is, they weren't all that hard anyway, but if the entire class has a copy of every test, you're going to "study" off that.

Posted by: Sharpie at July 17, 2026 12:05 PM (Bjzmv)

225
...UAW President Shawn Fain

Sounds like an IRA guy.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at July 17, 2026 12:05 PM (Cqx++)

226 Back in the day, at UCSD, we NEVER got a "take-home" exam.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at July 17, 2026 12:02 PM (qFwJc)
---
You could take it home after it was graded, but that was about it.

The most we ever had was open-book or even "allowed notes" exams.

One of our instructors allowed a 3x5 note card at every exam he gave, because he read that the process of compiling, compressing and prioritizing the notes would actually cement the knowledge better than studying by reading.

Posted by: Axeman at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (Fi81e)

227 During the UAW Convention held in Detroit in June 2026, UAW President Shawn Fain also warned against “the threat of humanoid robotics and mass automation” undermining worker employment and compensation.
Posted by: Archimedes at July 17, 2026 11:47 AM (Riz8t)

This should be something they worry about. Especially because bringing them in isn’t something necessarily negotiable- potentially there could be effects bargaining. The UAW is very reluctant to cross train, and they are completely spoiled by negotiations with auto manufacturers. For those they represent outside of this sphere, they get a bit flummoxed when faced with needing to make concessions and be more flexible. They also get flummoxed by real contingency planning. I locked the UAW out once. They at least got themselves together more quickly than when I did it to the USW. Twice. Good times, good times.

Posted by: Piper at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (hftzA)

228 Me: Okay, AI, I have completed maintenance routine XYZ

AI: Excellent work. Do not reinsert the fuel rods until XYZ is complete.

Me: Reinsert the fuel rods???

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (2ap+5)

229 Back in the day, at UCSD, we NEVER got a "take-home" exam.

Posted by: no one of any consequence

I went to UCSD from '85-'87. Loved working at the radio station.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (DZ9Lv)

230 Canada has "open book barrister examination" and "open book solicitor examination". It's one of a number of exams you have to take to get a license.

Posted by: runner at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (GD0B3)

231 I had a course with a particularly lazy professor (former Reagan administration official, ran for senate later) who decreed that if you aced the mid-term you didn't have to take the final. So I didn't.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at July 17, 2026 12:06 PM (YZkcf)

232
The dentist who took over the practice from my longstanding and now retired previous dentist is young. And spent all of ninety seconds examining me during my visit this past week.

The missus and I will be shopping for a replacement once her dentist retires later this year.

Were it not for the thorough job my hygienist does, I'd bail on him right now.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at July 17, 2026 12:07 PM (s9VOe)

233 ---
You could take it home after it was graded, but that was about it.

The most we ever had was open-book or even "allowed notes" exams.
-------

Same for me.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 12:08 PM (XeU6L)

234 I can honestly say I don't remember taking any of my tests in college because none of them stand out. I do remember writing a lot of papers though. I still have most of my papers from graduate school.

Posted by: polynikes at July 17, 2026 12:08 PM (/WQyy)

235 ..I bet unless you know what the heck is in those law books, and how to apply it, having them on an exam won't help....especially if the exam is timed

Posted by: runner at July 17, 2026 12:08 PM (GD0B3)

236 Professors would sometimes ask if the class would prefer a closed book or an open book exam. The class always chose the latter. Idiots.

Posted by: Oglebay at July 17, 2026 12:09 PM (2ap+5)

237 Did people, anywhere, actually think students or anyone for that matter would not use AI to cheat? Plezzzzz lmfao

Posted by: sidney at July 17, 2026 12:09 PM (Uy/WF)

238 nood

lum

Posted by: banana Dream at July 17, 2026 12:10 PM (3uBP9)

239 Hardest test I ever took was the Louisiana Real Estate license exam. Common Law and Napoleonic real estate law.

It was 90% multiple choice but the available answers were all similar to:

A
B
C
A and B
A and C
B and C

Posted by: polynikes at July 17, 2026 12:14 PM (/WQyy)

240 163 >>Professors are human too (well most of them) and I’ve no doubt they tend to cut a little slack to those making honest effort and not trying to get over.

I found the best path was to always take advantage of Office Hours and spend some time with the Profs.

Take the opportunity to discuss the materials and test your knowledge while establishing a decent relationship with the Professor.

Worked like a charm.
Posted by: garrett
========
Words of wisdom here. Speaking as a retired tenured prof. We have office hours for a reason.

And as a professor, I tried and used multiple different ways to assess students which is at the heart of education--not tests per se.

Recitation and vomiting of assorted miscellaneous trivia memorized is about the lowest form of education there is. In a social science, the key is being able to form analogies and apply those miscellaneous trivia to new conditions whether by simulations, exam questions, or writing assignments.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:16 PM (E4rtv)

241 I’m way late to this thread but I just want to say: I hate student #1… that annoying egghead that always set the curve unreasonably high in every class. Get a life dude!!

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at July 17, 2026 12:16 PM (yz/88)

242 I suppose that I am the last one to recognize this, but it occurs to me that we are the fodder that AI feeds upon. I imagine it to be a parasite (or worse) that feeds on the host, until the host is bled dry.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 12:17 PM (XeU6L)

243 235 ..I bet unless you know what the heck is in those law books, and how to apply it, having them on an exam won't help....especially if the exam is timed
Posted by: runner
=======
Pretty much. I didn't give a choice in most instances. Did for basic foundational class.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:17 PM (E4rtv)

244 I still think that the Trump Administration should do a simultaneous SWAT raid at 2 AM of the admissions departments of all prestigious universities to seize the records.

I'm sure that the notes to Chelsea Clinton's admission to Stanford, for example, are just hilarious.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (u6/wt)

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at July 17, 2026 12:17 PM (tWxgu)

245 “Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory.”

_______________________________

You never would have caught me cheating on that test, becaused I wouldn't have taken that nonsense class in the first place. Really? "Welfare Economics?" Is that the "throw taxpayer money at it to make it go away after creating the problem in the first place, only to make it worse?" And, "Social Choice Theory". Oh, I'm sure the "theory" part is just some leftist's opinion, and if you come up with a theory of your own that contradicts the "Social Choice" theory, you're just WRONG. Classes like this with an over-emphasis in justifying stupidity and making excuses wastes everyone's time, money, and patience.

Posted by: Orson at July 17, 2026 12:17 PM (dIske)

246 Then he said "the rebels are Franco's Fascists." "Learn context"
Posted by: Smell the Glove at July 17, 2026 11:44 AM (OXYE0)

They were killing Commies. Why would you not support them?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at July 17, 2026 12:18 PM (1z8ji)

247 241 I’m way late to this thread but I just want to say: I hate student #1… that annoying egghead that always set the curve unreasonably high in every class. Get a life dude!!
Posted by: LinusVanPelt
=========
Curving grades is a lazy STEM practice to rank students. There are better ways to drive student learning and performance.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:18 PM (E4rtv)

248 I still think that the Trump Administration should do a simultaneous SWAT raid at 2 AM of the admissions departments of all prestigious universities to seize the records.

I'm sure that the notes to Chelsea Clinton's admission to Stanford, for example, are just hilarious.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at July 17, 2026 11:30 AM (u6/wt)

I would like to see Obama’s transcript.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at July 17, 2026 12:19 PM (tWxgu)

249 Words of wisdom here. Speaking as a retired tenured prof. We have office hours for a reason.

And as a professor, I tried and used multiple different ways to assess students which is at the heart of education--not tests per se.
--------

A cousin, well-respected math professor at well-known university, held his office hours at the student union. Apparently it worked out well, the informality of the setting having some appeal.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 17, 2026 12:21 PM (XeU6L)

250 You never would have caught me cheating on that test, becaused I wouldn't have taken that nonsense class in the first place. Really? "Welfare Economics?" Is that the "throw taxpayer money at it to make it go away after creating the problem in the first place, only to make it worse?" And, "Social Choice Theory". Oh, I'm sure the "theory" part is just some leftist's opinion, and if you come up with a theory of your own that contradicts the "Social Choice" theory, you're just WRONG. Classes like this with an over-emphasis in justifying stupidity and making excuses wastes everyone's time, money, and patience.
Posted by: Orson
=======
Actually as a former econ undergraduate, welfare economic is a pretty important field as that is a massive expenditure for governments and Social Choice Theory, is actually rational choice theory which applies how individuals and institutions make rational decisions in light of available information, human behavior patterns, etc.

Really more a conservative class archetype than a liberal one.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:22 PM (E4rtv)

251 Yeah, I would support the Falangists over the Communist Republicans in Spain. Strange how familiar words take on new meanings in new contexts, isn’t it?

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at July 17, 2026 12:22 PM (tWxgu)

252 A cousin, well-respected math professor at well-known university, held his office hours at the student union. Apparently it worked out well, the informality of the setting having some appeal.
Posted by: Mike Hammer

I ditched students doing in class presentations for a one on one with me over required research papers. It does work better. I always picked a public place for such though as I avoided private meetings one on one with students for classes-if I had to use my office, I kept the door open.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:24 PM (E4rtv)

253 Really more a conservative class archetype than a liberal one.

Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:22 PM (E4rtv)

Ha! I knew someone would call me on this, why did it have to be you

Posted by: ... at July 17, 2026 12:26 PM (/bHKT)

254 241 I’m way late to this thread but I just want to say: I hate student #1… that annoying egghead that always set the curve unreasonably high in every class. Get a life dude!!
Posted by: LinusVanPelt
=========
Curving grades is a lazy STEM practice to rank students. There are better ways to drive student learning and performance.
Posted by: whig at July 17, 2026 12:18 PM (E4rtv)

There were occasions when I set the curve… I almost felt guilty when it happened. Almost!

As you probably know, there are a lot of graduate level classes in STEM where the prof could create an exam that was undoable for the students. I took graduate level classes in mathematics where a prof could’ve asked for proof of a single theorem on the exam and not one student could’ve produced the proof. It is a quandary to produce “fair” tests with that kind of advanced material

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at July 17, 2026 12:31 PM (+gA9j)

255 Way back in ~1980 one of my math teachers caught a bunch of foreign students cheating. He'd suspected they were and deliberately set up a test to catch them, with another teacher administering that test. Two slightly different versions, caught folks clearly copying answers from the wrong version. He triedd to get them thrown out of the class.

Administration would only let him fail them an that exam. No punishments. They were paying way too much, and admin didn't want foreign students avoiding that college.

Posted by: you're in hell, the world ended at July 17, 2026 12:36 PM (Lqp/b)

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