Professor's AI Detection Trick Leads to 32 Out of 35 Students Failing an Assignment

Dr. Jason Gibson, a history professor at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, USA, gained significant attention on social media for failing 32 out of 35 students in an assignment designed to detect the use of artificial intelligence. The assignment required students to write an essay on the Industrial Revolution. Professor Gibson embedded a hidden instruction within the online prompt: the word "Madagascar" was to be included in a nonsensical context, typed in white font against a white background, making it invisible to the naked eye. Students who copied the entire prompt and pasted it into AI tools like ChatGPT would inadvertently include this hidden instruction. Consequently, the essays submitted by these students contained bizarre sentences such as "Madagascar floats sideways during the afternoon" or "Madagascar went to a basketball game using a toaster." Professor Gibson explained in TikTok videos that this clearly indicated students had not reviewed their work after using AI. He informed the students of the deception, highlighting the hidden white text and explaining that it would only be included if the prompt was copied and pasted into an AI without review. He offered students the chance to contest their grades. Of the 32 students who failed, only two appealed. One student successfully reversed their failing grade by explaining they used dark mode on their screen, which made the white text visible, allowing them to see and exclude the instruction. Concerns were raised on social media about potential prejudice against students with disabilities, such as visually impaired students using screen readers. Professor Gibson clarified that none of the students in his classes used assistive technologies. He emphasized that his goal was not to fail students but to address the challenges of integrating AI into education, acknowledging that best practices are still being developed by educators to maintain academic integrity.