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Yonsei University plans public hearing amid AI-linked cheating scandal

Published: 11 Nov. 2025, 11:35

Students walk to classes on the Yonsei University campus in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Nov. 10. [NEWS1]

Yonsei University, one of the nation's leading institutions, is pushing to hold a public hearing on the ethics of AI as it grapples with a high-profile mass cheating scandal involving the use of AI.

According to sources, the Seoul-based university is preparing to organize an emergency hearing hosted by its Institute for AI and Social Innovation to address various issues, including the increasing transition to online classes and exams, the evolving functions and expanded usage of AI, and the necessary changes to teaching and evaluation methods.

"We're planning a forum that all staff and students can participate in," a university official told Yonhap News Agency. "We are looking at the recent cheating issue as an opportunity to discuss the ethical awareness needed for future higher education."

The mass cheating allegedly took place during a midterm exam for a Natural Language Processing and ChatGPT class that took place online on Oct. 15.

Dozens of students are believed to have cheated using ChatGPT and other AI tools by turning the angle of their computer cameras or opening multiple programs on their monitors to circumvent a requirement to submit videos showing their screens, hands and faces during the exam.

Some 600 students are believed to be enrolled in the class.

"Around 40 students have admitted to cheating, while 10 suspected of cheating have not owned up yet," a university official said. "If we confirm cheating by those who have not come forward, we could consider taking disciplinary action."

One student posted a vote on an online school bulletin asking how many of the exam takers had cheated. Of the 387 people who took part in the vote, 211 admitted to having cheated, while 176 said they took the exam without outside help.

Yonhap