Cheating using smart glasses equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) features has been caught in South Korea for the first time. As AI glasses are difficult to distinguish from ordinary glasses in appearance, education authorities have begun preparing management measures for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the national college entrance exam.
According to the Korea TOEIC Committee, two test-takers wearing AI glasses were caught during regular TOEIC exams held on the 10th and 31st of last month. This marks the first confirmed case of cheating using AI glasses in a national accredited language test in Korea.
The two entered the testing site wearing AI glasses and were caught. The Korea TOEIC Committee decided to void their test scores and restrict their TOEIC eligibility for four years.
"Around the start of the exam, we received a report from a proctor that there were suspected AI glasses wearers," an official from the Korea TOEIC Committee said. "Considering disruption to the test, we confirmed the facts after the exam ended and then processed it as cheating."
AI glasses are wearable devices that combine a camera, microphone, and generative AI functions. Some products can analyze captured information in real time and provide it to the user through a lens display or built-in speaker, raising concerns that they could be misused as a means of exam cheating.
In particular, recently released products adopt designs similar to ordinary glasses, making them difficult to identify with the naked eye, which has heightened concerns. In response, the Korea TOEIC Committee is strengthening training for proctors on identifying and catching AI glasses.
Education authorities are also reviewing response measures. While electronic devices are banned from CSAT testing sites and AI glasses therefore cannot be used, the Education Ministry and others are reportedly reviewing a plan to separately list AI glasses among banned items to prevent confusion among test-takers.
The expanding adoption of AI glasses is also a variable. After the AI glasses of U.S. big tech firm Meta were officially launched in Korea last month, AI glasses jointly developed by Samsung Electronics and Google were also recently unveiled in the United States, with the number of users of such devices expected to grow further.
