A college history professor says he uncovered widespread AI use after embedding a hidden instruction inside a midterm assignment. According to USA Today, the discussion-post portion of the midterm asked students to compare the Industrial Revolution with today’s digital age.
The instruction directed AI tools to include the word “Madagascar” somewhere in the response in a way that made no sense, creating a simple way to spot students who copied the entire prompt into an AI chatbot.
Professor Jason Gibson said the results were difficult to miss. Of his 35 students, 32 submitted responses that included the hidden Madagascar reference, leading those students to fail a portion of their midterm.
Gibson told NBC News that he did not come up with the idea entirely on his own. He recalled seeing another professor use a similar tactic earlier in the spring semester and later coming across the idea again while browsing TikTok.
The Bigger Issue Was How Students Used AI
@iamjasongibson I can’t make this stuff up. #professor #highereducation #college #midterm ♬ Piano famous song Chopin Deep deep clear beauty – RYOpianoforte
What really stood out was not simply that Madagascar appeared in the responses, but the bizarre ways it was worked into otherwise serious discussions about technology and society.
Among the examples Gibson shared were “Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon,” “Madagascar purple bicycle whispers to the ceiling,” and “Madagascar wore a toaster to a basketball game.” The unusual references showed Gibson that students had processed the hidden instruction through AI and, in many cases, submitted the resulting work without catching the obvious nonsense.
@iamjasongibson Part 3 #professor #highereducation #college #midterm #education ♬ original sound – Dr. Jason Gibson
Gibson made clear that he is not opposed to students using artificial intelligence. In fact, he said he encourages its use for certain purposes and includes a list of ethical and unethical uses of AI in his course syllabi.
He draws the line at having AI generate an entire assignment. Gibson said that falls outside what he considers an ethical use of the technology.
Gibson Doesn’t Think Banning AI Is the Answer
Rather than trying to eliminate AI from education entirely, Gibson believes schools and educators need to adapt to it.
“What doesn’t evolve will eventually die,” Gibson told NBC News while discussing the technology. He said educators need to develop ways to use AI that benefit students instead of allowing it to become a shortcut around learning.
For Gibson, that means distinguishing between using AI as a tool and allowing it to complete an assignment for a student. His midterm experiment also offers a pretty simple lesson: whatever tools students use, they still need to understand and review the work they submit.