If students think artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are their shortcut to easier grades, they may be in for a surprise. According to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, AI will actually raise the bar in education, not lower it.
Speaking on his podcast Possible, Hoffman said schools are likely to respond to AI’s growing influence by introducing tougher, more sophisticated exams—including oral tests and AI-monitored assessments.
“Whether it’s an essay or an oral exam, the AI examiner will be there with you,” Hoffman explained. “And that will be harder to fake than pre-AI times.”
AI Is Changing the Way Students Learn—and Cheat
Hoffman pointed out that some students are already turning to AI to do their homework.
“Instead of spending 30 hours writing an essay, a student might spend 90 minutes prompting ChatGPT,” he said.
But this kind of academic shortcutting won’t go unchecked for long. Schools, Hoffman said, will need to redesign how they assess students—focusing more on critical thinking, problem-solving, and in-person explanations that AI can’t easily replicate.
Oral Exams and AI Integration Could Become the Norm
What was once reserved for graduate-level studies—oral exams and real-time defense of ideas—may soon become a standard across all educational levels. Hoffman sees this shift as a necessary response to a world where AI is readily accessible and widely used.
Smarter Teaching, Not AI Bans, Say Experts
Canadian tech ethicist Sinead Bovell, often dubbed “The AI Educator for Non-Nerds” by Vogue, echoes Hoffman’s view. She argues that banning tools like ChatGPT is ineffective. Instead, schools should assume AI will be used—and raise expectations accordingly.
“We need to raise the bar on what humans bring to the table,” Bovell said.
She proposes blended assignments: students may use ChatGPT at home, but must later critique or improve their AI-generated content in class, without any digital assistance. This approach, she says, mirrors how calculators revolutionized math instruction—by demanding a deeper level of understanding.
Flawed Detectors and the Danger of False Positives
Bovell also cautioned against over-reliance on AI detectors to catch misuse.
“They’re not very effective and can unfairly flag students—especially those for whom English is a second language,” she noted.
Even OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has discontinued its own AI detection tool due to accuracy issues.
AI Is the Future of Learning—Not a Threat to It
Both Hoffman and Bovell agree: AI isn’t the enemy—it’s a new tool in the learning toolkit. The real challenge for educators lies in adapting to this reality, not resisting it.
“Educators must evolve with technology,” Hoffman said. “Success in the AI era depends not on avoiding these tools, but on learning to use them wisely.”
In a world where AI is becoming second nature, the future of education will reward human originality, adaptability, and insight—not just the ability to prompt a chatbot.
