Death of the essay: How AI is forcing universities to reinvent exams

The last place Daniel Cash expected to see ChatGPT was during a handwritten law exam. The third-year arts and law student was used to the cast of familiar interfaces staring back at him from his peers’ computer screens during lectures, but this was different.

There was no technology permitted in the exam room; students were only allowed to bring in hard copy notes. On his neighbour’s desks were printed screenshots of ChatGPT conversations. “I remember thinking, ‘wow, nothing is safe’,” the 20-year-old says. “I thought that was kind of surreal.”

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