By now, almost everyone understands that college students are turning to Artificial Intelligence to do their written work. That’s a serious problem. But that isn’t the only problem. As Jovan Tripkovic points out in today’s Martin Center article, many students are using AI to help get into college in the first place. AI is corrupting the admissions process.

He writes:

College admissions is about more than a well-written essay. The process is supposed to help universities evaluate a student’s academic record, achievements, experiences, and character. If universities allow AI to become a central part of the application process, they will open a Pandora’s box of unintended consequences. The integrity of admissions will suffer as colleges increasingly reward AI-assisted performance rather than the merit, effort, and character of the applicants themselves.

What should officials do? Tripkovic recommends that they put much more weight on objective measures of academic ability and rely on interviews and timed writings that will reveal the student’s own thinking.