From hidden notes to AI glasses, cheating takes new forms
Smart glasses are on display at an electronics store in Seoul, Monday. Smart glasses, smartwatches and other electronic devices will be prohibited at test centers during the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test. Wearing artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses during the exam will be considered cheating, resulting in the invalidation of the student's test score and a ban from taking next year's exam. Yonhap
Cheating on exams is hardly new in Korea.
What has changed is the technology used to get away with it, from altered answer sheets and text messages to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered glasses. As the methods grow more sophisticated, detecting them has become increasingly difficult.
Even the civil service examinations of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty were vulnerable to cheaters. In a 1699 scandal, 15 of 33 successful candidates were found to have passed through irregular means, including the swapping of names attached to exam papers.
Centuries later, mobile phones made cheating a coordinated operation. During the 2004 college entrance exam, students in Gwangju divided up roles among high-scoring test takers, intermediaries and recipients, passing answers through text messages.
According to Ministry of Education figures released in 2005, the scores of 472 students were invalidated for cheating on college entrance exams from the 2002 through 2005 academic years. Of those, 412 had used text messages. The scandal prompted tighter restrictions on electronic devices and tougher penalties.
More recently, smart glasses have added another challenge for exam supervisors.
Two people were caught using AI-enabled glasses during TOEIC English-language tests in May. Three candidates wearing smart glasses were also caught at national technical qualification exams in Seoul, Gwangju and Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. Similar cases have surfaced in university entrance examinations.
The problem has reached school classrooms, too.
A survey from the education ministry released Monday found four cases involving smart glasses in middle and high school exams this year — one at a middle school and three at high schools. The survey covered 5,679 schools nationwide.
At a high school in North Jeolla Province, a teacher grew suspicious when a student repeatedly touched the frames of his glasses during an exam. A green light reflected in the lenses helped give him away.
All four students received zeros for the subjects concerned, while the three high school students faced additional disciplinary measures.
The issue comes as Korea prepares for its annual College Scholastic Ability Test on Nov. 19. A separate tally found 1,229 cheating violations over the past five years, although many involved writing answers after time was called rather than using electronic devices.
“Preventing cheating with AI glasses is not an issue for the Ministry of Education alone,” a ministry official said, adding that agencies overseeing medical licensing and technical qualification exams also need to address the problem.
Smart glasses and other electronic devices will be banned from test centers on exam day. Officials are also exploring ways to detect the glasses electronically, but have yet to find a reliable solution.