As soon as we delve into knowledge or argumentation, there’s no one there anymore.
Grand Oral Exam Under Scrutiny Amid AI Concerns
After spending several days as a juror for the “grand oral” exam, a component of the French baccalauréat, François (who wishes to remain anonymous) is noticeably frustrated. “I wonder what I’m examining, yet this evaluation accounts for 10% of the final baccalaureate grade,” says the economics and social sciences teacher from the Bordeaux academy. Among the dozens of candidates he has seen, he has witnessed students “reciting texts that could not possibly be their own.”
“I sometimes feel like a teacher at the Cours Florent [a drama school]. I don’t know how the presentation was prepared, and I have no way of verifying it,” he explains.
Alongside the typical subjects that have circulated on social media for years, generative artificial intelligences (AI), increasingly used by students, are troubling the teachers interviewed. “We end up with well-written presentations with references that come naturally but sound hollow,” says François, to whom inspectors have given a “clear instruction”: “Do not penalize a student who has used AI,” he reports.
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