Cheating in the age of generative AI: A high school survey study of cheating behaviors before and after the release of ChatGPT

The public release of ChatGPT and other generative AI chatbot technologies has been accompanied by questions about how academic integrity and student cheating behaviors will be impacted. We analyzed anonymous survey data from three high schools to see if self-reported cheating numbers changed following the introduction of ChatGPT and similar technologies. This survey data set is unique in that data on cheating had been collected with this set of schools both before and after November 2022, when ChatGPT was publicly released and drew attention to these educational concerns. The results suggested that cheating behaviors remained relatively stable after the introduction of this current generation of generative AI chatbot technology. However, some changes in reported behaviors differed depending on the type of cheating (social cheating, AI-related cheating, etc.). Additional survey questions about high school students’ AI chatbot usage and the perceived allowability of such technology revealed mixed opinions on the acceptability of using AI for various academic-related tasks. Most students did not think that using a chatbot to produce an entire paper or complete an entire assignment should be allowable. However, there was support for using AI chatbots to help students to start on assignments and papers and to help explain new concepts to them.