A now-viral video showing a university student using ChatGPT during an exam has sparked widespread outrage online, fuelling discussions about academic integrity, AI misuse, and the declining seriousness of exam protocols.
First posted by X user @hrfuturesnq and later reshared on Instagram by @kongsi.viral, the clip captures a female student discreetly using her phone to generate answers.
The lecturer confiscates, composed but firm, the device and another student’s phone, suggesting the answers were being shared during the test.
“Good on the lecturer. It’s unfair for those who studied properly to be outranked by those who cheat,“ wrote @hrfuturesnq on the post.
Online reactions ranged from anger to despair. The repost from @kongsi.viral post garnered the most comments, producing variety of feedbacks.
Instagram user @perodua_mohd_khir reflected on stricter times: “Back then, even bags weren’t allowed. Phones had to go in a bin. I only had a Nokia 3310, and even that felt expensive. If students now rely on ChatGPT, then just let AI do your job too.”
@meladynora90 questioned the basic rules: “Why weren’t phones collected before the exam started? Isn’t that standard procedure?”
Others praised the lecturer’s restraint, with @amrycullen wrote: “What’s wrong is still wrong. But respect to the teacher for correcting them calmly. In Malaysia, the phone would’ve been smashed, and the student screamed at.”
User @norakamlll voiced a deeper concern: “Students sacrifice everything—money, energy, even selling off belongings for education—only to be replaced by AI. It’s heartbreaking.”
Meanwhile, @babyskin_syielayahya offered a rare moment of sympathy: “Poor girl. After getting caught, how could she focus? Her brain probably froze from panic.”
The university remains unidentified, though it was identified to be occurred in Indonesia, due to the lecturers’ accent and the language of the ChatGPT prompt from the students’ phones.
The phenomenon has raised questions in students’ reliance towards AI, concerning the productivity and critical thinking skills of future generations to be underdeveloped.