AI Study: Students’ GPAs Flooded with 'A' Grades, Companies Anxious

AI usage among university students is increasingly widespread. On the one hand, this technology has dramatically boosted their academic grades. On the other hand, a recent study offers a warning about the future of the labour market. According to a report published by the University of California, Berkeley, the rampant use of AI by students has triggered grade inflation at several universities. The research reveals that students now achieve much higher marks, but the essence of learning and the skills they absorb are deteriorating. In the study, UC Berkeley senior researcher Igor Chirikov examined three main ways students use generative AI in completing assignments: The three approaches proved effective at raising grades. However, only the augmentation and reinstatement methods have a positive correlation with genuine learning and the development of skills. Unfortunately, many academic tasks, such as take-home assignments and unsupervised essay writing, have become loopholes for students to cheat by outsourcing their entire work to AI. The results were quite surprising. Chirikov found that the sharpest increases in grades were concentrated in courses with a high proportion of writing and coding tasks, especially those reliant on take-home assignments. He concluded that many students actively use AI to cheat in order to obtain better grades. Overall, the study found that courses deemed “AI-prone” experienced a 30 per cent rise in A grades since ChatGPT first exploded onto the market. The high level of the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is indeed very important for students in determining their future prospects, whether applying for postgraduate programmes or competing in the labour market. Therefore, it is not surprising that many students seek shortcuts in the face of fierce industry competition. This AI-driven inflation of grades is feared to make recruiters increasingly struggle to filter young graduates who are truly competent.