Level of cheating at Irish colleges revealed – with AI used in many instances of plagiarism

Statistics show University of Galway punished 49 students for using AI to cheat in 2023/2024. However, the university is one of only a few to actually collect AI cheating data, according to Freedom of Information requests.

Galway's statistics show how AI is now being used by some students in universities to try to gain an edge in exams. But without further evidence, Ireland lacks a concise analysis of how many students are using tech to get higher marks than their classmates.

The University of Galway said that from January 1 this year, until July 31, there had been 129 students who had been the "subject of investigation" under academic misconduct rules.

Of 129 students investigated, 51 were investigated under the policy for "unauthorised use of artificial intelligence". Of these 51 students, 49 ­received an academic penalty, the university explained in an FoI response.

This led to 18 students repeating and resubmitting assessment tasks, 13 gaining zero marks for an assessment, and 11 having to resubmit work.

Others had marks reduced or were suspended from the programme or university for a semester, with an automatic right of return. But others interestingly, received no penalty.

Out of the cohort ­investigated, 78 students – 60pc – were investigated for non-AI cheating. All of these students received penalties.

In total, 19,769 students attended the university in 2023/2024.

Meanwhile, Maynooth University said it doesn't "categorise" cheating related to AI. However, the university disciplined 132 out of 16,113 students this year for plagiarism, 51 more than it penalised last year.

Last year, a total of 81 Maynooth students had been disciplined for plagiarism out of 15,774 students.

UCC is another of the universities collecting data on AI cheats.

It investigated 35 students for plagiarism using AI in the 2023/24 academic year. Of these, 34 were penalised for using AI to cheat. Of this cohort, 19 had their marks reduced by 50pc, 16 were awarded a zero for submitted work, and nine students were required to re-sit tests with marks capped at 40pc. There were 25,254 students at UCC in 2023/24. Of these, 74 students cheated without AI. And during the 2022/2023 academic year, 68 cheated using "old-fashioned" methods.

DCU doesn't collect specific data on AI-specific offences but recorded eight cases of plagiarism this year and it also dealt with 20 disciplinary cases in 2024.

But plagiarism has dropped dramatically at the university in the last two years. In 2022, DCU logged 40 cases of plagiarism. That year there were 71 disciplinary cases. Last year, there were 10 cases of plagiarism and 25 disciplinary cases.

UCD also doesn't collect AI plagiarism data and it is yet to finish compiling statistics on cheating for the 2023/2024 ­period.

However, an FoI showed UCD had investigated 29 cases of copying or cheating in an exam or assessment, such as an in-semester test in the 2022/2023 period. Penalties were applied in 21 cases. There was "no case to answer" in eight cases.

Some students were fined, others reprimanded, some had grades reduced and some wrote letters of apology.

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) said there "is no record" for AI cheating. The institution only collects data for traditional plagiarism methods. Data provided showed that ­between 2022 until 2024, there were 15 students punished for plagiarism.

The University of Limerick (UL) also doesn't collect AI cheating data. It found 29 students were in breach of its code ­Section 1.5 (I) regarding academic misconduct, including plagiarism, during 2023/2024. This compared to 37 in 2022/2023. UL punished 29 students under this code in 2023/2024 and 20 the year prior.

Queen's University also doesn't collate AI cheating data. However, an FoI showed the university said its data "may include cases of the misuse of AI".

The university hasn't completed statistics for the 2023/2024 period. But in the 2022/2023 academic year, the university investigated 17 cases of "alleged cheating/contract cheating".

Of these cases, 14 had "a penalty was imposed", a Queen's University spokesperson said.

Trinity College Dublin also stated it doesn't measure AI plagiarism data. It noted that in 2023/2024 only one student received a penalty for ­plagiarism. "The student was required to resubmit their work and the marks that could be awarded were capped at 40pc," a Trinity spokesperson noted.