In the past few months new AI tools known as “Agentic AI” have emerged. These new browsers let users deploy AI assistants that can surf the web on their behalf. While they were designed to do things like book airline tickets or schedule meetings, students can use the tools to have the bot log into learning management systems to take quizzes for them. Anna Mills, a longtime English instructor, has called on AI companies to add a simple guardrail to keep these tools from assisting in academic fraud, just as they refuse to help with hacking or other unethical acts. The situation raises questions about how AI companies are responding to calls by educators to add safeguards to protect learning.
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