Three quarters of students report feeling stressed over being accused of using AI

Three-quarters of UK students have reported feeling stressed over the possibility of being wrongly flagged by AI plagiarism detectors, according to YouGov.

They surveyed 2,373 students and found that 60% experienced stress when using generative AI, with international students twice as likely to report “a lot” of stress.

Of those who reported using AI, 75% were significantly stressed over being accused of plagiarism by detection tools. Those who used AI regularly were less likely to report stress than those who used it only a few times.

Many students report being unsure of what is considered acceptable use, with the threat of being accused of academic malpractice fuelling much of the anxiety.

At the University of Warwick, if markers believe you have presented AI-generated work as your own, you may be referred to an Academic Conduct Panel made of staff in the department or an interview.

The survey also found that AI use is lower among those studying social sciences (58%) and the creative arts (52%) than among those studying law (75%) and business (80%).

21% of students said they would completely depend on AI if they were allowed to, whilst many others remained worried about the damage AI can do to their critical thinking skills.

Over four months, Large Language Model (LLM) users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels

Kosmyna et al., MIT

AI use has reached record levels, with 88% claiming they have used AI in assessments, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute. This is an exponential increase from 53% in 2024.

Another study by the Oxford University Press found that only 2% of students aged 13 to 18 did not use AI for their schoolwork.

AI use in writing essays and its impacts were analysed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), finding that: “Over four months, Large Language Model (LLM) users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels.”

While LLMs offered “immediate convenience”, it came with cognitive costs, with users struggling to accurately quote their own work.

In a speech in January, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson claimed that: “AI can deliver a whole new era. It can be the biggest boost for education in the last 500 years.

“The potential is huge, but so is our responsibility. And this government takes that responsibility incredibly seriously. It’s a responsibility to get this right.”

MPs launched a new enquiry examining the role of AI and EdTech in education this Thursday to consider how AI is reshaping learning and its impacts on critical thinking and problem solving.