UC Berkeley Professor Abandons Homework Grading Amid AI Trend
A UC Berkeley professor stops grading homework for accuracy due to widespread AI use among students.
2 min read
A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has decided to stop grading homework for accuracy, citing the widespread use of artificial intelligence by students. Renowned mathematician Richard Borcherds told The California Post that AI has made traditional homework grading increasingly ineffective and unfair.
AI Use Makes Homework Grading Pointless
Borcherds explained that many students are relying on AI to complete regular homework assignments, which means those who do the work themselves are being penalized. He argues that grading for correctness incentivizes students to use AI and punishes those who are honest.
“Student use of AI for homework is now widespread. Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty,” Borcherds said.
Grading by Completion Becomes the Norm
Instead of focusing on the accuracy of answers, Borcherds now grades homework based on whether it was completed. He believes that paying college-level instructors to grade AI-generated answers is a waste of time and money.
“There is no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work. Occasionally one could tell it is AI because AI made a few characteristic errors, but AI has now improved so much that it rarely makes obvious mistakes,” he added.
Online Exams and the AI Challenge
Borcherds also noted that online exams are problematic, as he has no way to determine which students are using AI tools. He has observed an overall improvement in the average grades from such exams.
As a result, he has shifted the majority of his students’ grades to in-person exams where electronic devices are not permitted.
AI Use is Common Among College Students
According to a Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2026 State of Higher Education study, more than half of U.S. college students use AI at least weekly to aid in their studies, with approximately 20% using it daily. Male students are more likely to use AI than female students, and its use is more common in business and technology-related fields compared to the natural sciences and humanities.
Source: Daily Wire
