China prevents cheating in exams by implementing nationwide AI block
How to prevent kids from using AI tools to cheat on their final exams? It’s easy. You just cut off the supply. Chinese AI companies have shut down their AI chatbots so students across the country can’t copy answers on university entrance exams.
Popular chatbots like Alibaba’s Qwen and ByteDance’s Doubao have blocked photo recognition functions to prevent them from being used to identify and answer exam-related questions. Meanwhile, Tencent’s Yuanbao and Moonshot’s Kimi have blocked access to photo recognition tools during exam hours. DeepSeek has also taken similar measures.
Student Reactions and Extreme Measures
Although the closure of AI functions seems to be universal among all companies offering such services, none of them have publicly announced these restrictions. Instead, it was students who reported it on social media, and many of them are nervous about not being able to use the tools. Other users have also expressed their frustration with the situation. “University applicants are all s%#t,” someone posted on Weibo. “I can’t use DeepSeek to upload photos, and I have to re-download ChatGPT. I hope they all end up at the worst university.”
The exam period for these Chinese students is no joke. The exam, known as “gaokao,” takes up three days in which high school students hope to secure a spot in one of the country’s limited university slots. This year, about 13.3 million students will be taking their exams. The exam lasts about nine hours spread over three days, and students are not allowed to use their phones or computers during that time (which would probably be enough to prevent them from using AI tools, but China doesn’t want to take any chances).
Although students cannot use AI during the exam, it seems that exam administrators can. Reports indicate that exam sites use AI surveillance systems to detect “irregular behavior,” such as students whispering to each other or exchanging glances as a form of communication, things that human proctors may not notice.
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. You can find the original version [here](link).
