How to tell if a student has used ChatGPT
Apr. 16th, 2026 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingHere's the quiz question:
Toward the end of Yoko Tawada’s novel The Emissary (on page 89 of the PDF), it’s revealed that the streets of Tokyo have been reconstructed with glass sheeting, which is suspended over a deep chasm. Why were the original asphalt roads removed?
Here's what the books says:
“When it was discovered that the radioactive contamination permeating the soil had seeped into the asphalt that covered the streets, citizens protested to the government […] which hired professionals to dig out the contaminated earth deep below the asphalt, then paid contractors to haul it away and place thick glass sheets over the holes to keep pedestrians from falling into the depths of hell” (89).
Here's what the answer should be:
Fear of radioactive contamination.
Here's the context discussed in class:
After the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the Japanese government failed to address the widespread fear of radioactive contamination. One of the most visible symbols of the absurdity of the government’s response were the “Fukushima bags” of supposedly irradiated soil lining national highways. Essentially, teams of contractors were sent to secure and contain soil that was measured to be particularly radioactive in large vinyl trash bags. While this makes sense on paper, in real life it looked like the government was just digging random holes by the side of the road.
Here's the student's answer:
“The original roads were removed because asphalt is a petroleum product. With the collapse of the global trade system and environmental pollution that led to isolation, Japan faced a lack of imported oil. Asphalt was therefore replaced with materials such as glass sheeting.”
You get why I suspect that this answer was created by Gen-AI, right?
It’s not so much the writing itself, but rather the tone and context. The student’s answer is completely wrong, but it’s written with complete confidence. His answer is something that could conceivably be possible... but again, it’s totally unsupported, not to mention totally irrelevant. So where does the student’s confidence come from? And also, given that he’s apparently unable to read the specified paragraph, where does that smoothness of writing come from? Why does he feel the need to write a perfectly balanced three-sentence paragraph when a simple four-word answer would suffice?
I am so fucking ready for this semester to be over, you have no idea.
Toward the end of Yoko Tawada’s novel The Emissary (on page 89 of the PDF), it’s revealed that the streets of Tokyo have been reconstructed with glass sheeting, which is suspended over a deep chasm. Why were the original asphalt roads removed?
Here's what the books says:
“When it was discovered that the radioactive contamination permeating the soil had seeped into the asphalt that covered the streets, citizens protested to the government […] which hired professionals to dig out the contaminated earth deep below the asphalt, then paid contractors to haul it away and place thick glass sheets over the holes to keep pedestrians from falling into the depths of hell” (89).
Here's what the answer should be:
Fear of radioactive contamination.
Here's the context discussed in class:
After the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the Japanese government failed to address the widespread fear of radioactive contamination. One of the most visible symbols of the absurdity of the government’s response were the “Fukushima bags” of supposedly irradiated soil lining national highways. Essentially, teams of contractors were sent to secure and contain soil that was measured to be particularly radioactive in large vinyl trash bags. While this makes sense on paper, in real life it looked like the government was just digging random holes by the side of the road.
Here's the student's answer:
“The original roads were removed because asphalt is a petroleum product. With the collapse of the global trade system and environmental pollution that led to isolation, Japan faced a lack of imported oil. Asphalt was therefore replaced with materials such as glass sheeting.”
You get why I suspect that this answer was created by Gen-AI, right?
It’s not so much the writing itself, but rather the tone and context. The student’s answer is completely wrong, but it’s written with complete confidence. His answer is something that could conceivably be possible... but again, it’s totally unsupported, not to mention totally irrelevant. So where does the student’s confidence come from? And also, given that he’s apparently unable to read the specified paragraph, where does that smoothness of writing come from? Why does he feel the need to write a perfectly balanced three-sentence paragraph when a simple four-word answer would suffice?
I am so fucking ready for this semester to be over, you have no idea.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-17 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-17 05:15 pm (UTC)Funny story. We were prohibited from disabling Copilot on our university email accounts as of last August, and everyone hates it. The students get around it by using Telegram, and the staff gets around it by using Slack. I now have an "official" account on Telegram, and it's been amusing to watch the older generations of professors and admins learn to react to messages with emojis. Still, the situation isn't ideal.
I know I keep saying this, but I'll say it again: good luck to us all.