‘Humans Get Tired’: It May Not Be People Reading Your College Applications Anymore At Top Schools
Leading universities are now using artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to review applications and evaluate essays submitted by prospective students, and this trend is growing.
Schools like Virginia Tech are integrating AI into their admissions process to “provide applicants with faster admissions decisions,” using the tool to score student essays. But at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), some students could find themselves in a video interview with an AI chatbot, according to the Associated Press.
“Humans are tired; some days are better than others,” Juan Espinoza, vice provost for enrollment management at Virginia Tech, told the AP. “The AI doesn’t get tired. It doesn’t get grumpy. It doesn’t have a bad day. The AI is consistent.”
Virginia Tech insists that AI is only used as a second set of eyes to grade students’ essays and does not make admissions decisions on its own. Previously, essays were evaluated by two people to ensure accuracy and impartiality; now, the AI replaces a human, and a second person is only recruited if the scores delivered by the first person and the AI differ by more than two points.
Ashley Pallie, director of admissions at Caltech, said the AI interview tool is “a gauge of authenticity.”
“Can you claim this research intellectually? Is there a certain level of joy around your project? That passion is important to us,” Pallie told AP.
An advertisement for AI company Artisan is posted on 2nd Street on December 5, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech uses AI to evaluate transfer student transcripts and may soon expand its use to incoming freshmen.
“It’s an added layer of delays, stress and inevitable mistakes,” Richard Clark, Georgia Tech’s executive director of enrollment management, told AP. “AI is going to kill this, which I’m so excited about.”
Stony Brook University in New York is currently testing AI capabilities to summarize essays and letters of recommendation, which will soon be able to flag certain details for humans to consider. (RELATED: ‘No critical thinking’: Parents sound alarm as technology begins to ‘replace the teacher’)
These AI scanners apparently save schools thousands of hours.
Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) were outraged to find that at their school, “there is no legal requirement for admissions officers to read essays for undergraduate application review; instead, they have implemented AI-infused software to summarize essays.”
At the same time, students are repeatedly warned that using AI to write their applications would result in immediate rejection from schools. Using AI for school assignments also typically comes with a hefty penalty, often including a failing grade and referral to the student disciplinary office for academic dishonesty.
Virginia Tech, Caltech, Georgia Tech, Stony Brook and UNC did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available free to any legitimate news publisher capable of delivering a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and DCNF affiliation. For questions about our guidelines or our partnership, please contact licenses@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
