UC Berkeley Professor Stops Grading Homework Due to AI Use

Professor Changes Grading Approach

Richard Borcherds, a UC Berkeley professor and Fields medalist, said he no longer grades homework for correctness. He observed that many students used AI to consistently receive top scores. He felt there was no point in paying readers to grade for correctness because AI use is now unavoidable. He now grades on completion if a student hands in homework, though he admits this is not a very good system.

AI Impact on Mathematics

Borcherds commented after OpenAI announced that AI agents apparently solved the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem. He said if AI continues to improve at its present rate, in a few years there will be nothing human mathematicians can do that AI cannot do better. He expressed uncertainty about advising students to enter the math department, noting that five years ago mathematics seemed one of the safest careers from the AI boom. He even asked ChatGPT for advice and received no clear answer.

Campus AI Policy Developments

The Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate asks faculty to include a statement about course expectations including the use of AI tools for coursework in syllabi. Anne Marie Richard, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and chief academic technology officer, said direct policies on AI use can vary dramatically with course level and focus area. Campus has tried AI detection tools such as Turnitin and Rumi but determined they are not adequate enough to be standardized. AI policy for classes remains at the discretion of faculty, and a growing database of sample AI use statements is available in the AI Hub for faculty to use in their syllabi.

Sources: dailycal.org