What happened with AI-supervised remote exams?

So, earlier this summer, Mexico's largest university, UNAM, administered an AI-supervised remote exam to nearly 160,000 applicants - and the results were pretty alarming. I mean, the exam itself was taken completely remotely, using a "lockdown" browser and AI-powered webcam proctoring software, which sounds like it should be foolproof, right? But somehow, top scores increased significantly compared to previous years - we're talking a jump from 3.5 percent of test takers scoring 100 or more between 2021 and 2025, to 16.3 percent achieving this score this year.

The surge in top scores led to accusations of widespread cheating, which prompted UNAM to appoint a commission of experts to investigate - and their recommendation is to administer a "control exam" in person. Now, this isn't just for those who secured a spot at UNAM based on this year's test, but also for everyone who would have been admitted based on minimum successful scores in their program of study since 2021. That's around 58,000 people who'll have to prepare for and take the test again, which is a pretty big deal.

The university rector has apologized to honest applicants, acknowledging that they'll have to take the test again despite doing nothing wrong - it's a tough spot to be in. The control exam is necessary to ensure equity in access and provide certainty, but it's still unclear exactly how the cheating happened. Maybe students relied on traditional methods like cheat sheets or leaked questions, or maybe they used AI models like ChatGPT to gain an unfair advantage - either way, it's a problem that needs to be addressed.

Source: Ars Technica