Unfair means, from slips to chips
TECH adventurer Elon Musk recently posted on X that in the future, ‘there will be no phones, just Neuralinks’. He shared an image of himself, generated using artificial intelligence (AI); it showed a neural network-like design on his forehead. A chip embedded in the brain will presumably control the computer as well as the phone. If everything falls into place, it would be possible to gather information merely by thinking.
For better or worse, technology is evolving rapidly in terms of features and uses. Unscrupulous elements are increasingly using smart devices to cheat in exams. When we were students around three decades ago, we were frisked for paper slips and pocket guides. The examination hall used to reverberate with the warnings of invigilators: ‘Anybody having slips or other help material should hand it over or face the consequences.’ The terror of the flying squad was palpable even among innocent students; they used to look frantically under or around their desks for any slip somebody might have thrown away after using it.
The situation is entirely different now. The day is not far when a medical certificate would have to be furnished before entering the exam centre. It would say: ‘I have not got any chip or device implanted inside my brain or elsewhere for the purpose of copying.’ What’s more, a team of doctors might be deployed to frisk students ‘biologically’ with state-of-the-art devices. Only after getting the all-clear would the students be allowed to appear in the test.
I remember my own experience as an invigilator. An examinee with a shock of curly hair caught my attention. Some strands were protruding unusually and seemed incongruous with the hairline. I overheard him muttering each question and its answer to himself. My suspicion grew because in those days, cases of misuse of then newly developed Bluetooth technology were coming to light. I told a senior colleague about my suspicion that some device was concealed in the student’s hair. It turned out to be true — a small Bluetooth device was recovered. A few years later, I read a news report that a student was caught cheating with a micro Bluetooth device which was surgically implanted in his ear. One wonders how the invigilator dealt with this novel case and ‘recovered’ the proof to establish the use of unfair means.
With AI coming into the picture now, the importance of NI (natural intelligence) is set to be undermined. Already, the nation is facing a huge embarrassment over the failure of the authorities to conduct foolproof competitive exams. The cheats are having a field day, even as students possessing NI are finding themselves at the receiving end in one exam scam after another.
