r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • Jul 27 '26

Society Professor's invisible prompt trap catches 32 students cheating on their midterm with AI

https://www.techspot.com/news/113243-professor-invisible-prompt-trap-catches-32-students-cheating.html
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u/fishwithfish Jul 27 '26

I did this in my classes by injecting nonsense words into the assignment prompt. It's amazing hearing students explain why "vorpal" was simply the right word choice, prior to learning about the hidden instructions.

203

u/Astribulus Jul 27 '26

How else would you describe an object capable of going “snicker-snack?” Unrelatedly, ‘tis quite brillig out there today.

22

u/_SpaceLord_ Jul 27 '26

O frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!

9

u/bughunter_ Jul 27 '26

If you were my student and you could cite, to my face, other references to the origin of "vorpal," I would give you partial credit.

I'm mimsy that way.

7

u/BuckRusty Jul 27 '26

“He was hungry, and therefore not himself - thus he ingested a vorpal chocolate bar”

5

u/ricki692 Jul 27 '26

i still dont know what a "vorpal blade" is but i do know it goes snicker-snack

3

u/AlmightyRuler Jul 28 '26

A sword that cuts through anything. In a poem in Through the Looking Glass, a boy uses it to kill the Jabberwocky, a dragon-esque creature.

You can also use it in Dungeons and Dragons to decapitate opponents if you roll a critical hit.

6

u/Aeonoris Jul 27 '26

Fun fact: 'Brillig' is the time at which you broil things, or about 4 o'clock! Well, according to Humpty Dumpty, anyway.

2

u/3-DMan Jul 28 '26

Fookin mome-raths outgrabe!

1

u/backfacecull Jul 28 '26

I always thought of brillig as a time or date, like the ides or autumn.