Oxford and Cambridge ban ChatGPT over plagiarism fears

iNews 04 March 2023

The United Kingdom’s top universities are split over how to respond to ChatGPT, with Oxford and Cambridge among those banning the technology over plagiarism fears, while others have opted to embrace it, writes Poppy Wood for iNews.

Eight out of 24 of the elite Russell Group universities have informed students that using the AI bot for assignments will count as academic misconduct, including Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Oxbridge. Dozens of other universities across the country, including Durham, Liverpool and Northampton, are scrambling to review their plagiarism policies in time for this year’s assessments, after ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in November.

The chatbot, created by Microsoft-backed tech non-profit OpenAI, scours vast swathes of the internet for answers to users’ questions. Unlike other AI bots, it coughs up results in fluent, sophisticated language, which users can tailor to their desired length. And unlike other AI bots, it’s free.
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