As AI tools become more and more common, the worry that they’ll be used for academic dishonesty grows. These fears are especially prevalent for tech such as smart glasses, which come with a built in camera and internet connection, allowing you to film and upload anything you’re looking at. The SAT has banned these from its tests . They already ban other electronic devices, from phones to smart watches, and this latest ban is merely an extension of that. What’s interesting, however, is how testing and academics are changing based on this new technology, and how both are forced to adapt, as we’ll explore in this article.
Smart Glasses and the SAT
The SAT has a of prohibited devices that students aren’t allowed to have with them during testing. They trust you, of course, but they understand well the stakes of the test, and just how alluring cheating can be. In the interest of fairness, they have long sought to ban any means by which a student can gain an unfair edge.
Smart Glasses are not unique in this regard, though they do present something of a new hurdle, given how hard they can be to detect at times. The current policy is that they be collected by the proctor before the start of testing, and returned at the end, just as with cellphones and other devices. These may be prescription glasses, but those too must be turned over. If you cannot see without them, then you must reschedule the test, and take it again with a pair of non-smart glasses.
In some ways, this is an overhyped new fad, just as cellphones were, and they do not present a major new challenge to the SAT or other tests when it comes to cheating. Every time a new electronic device appears, from phones to smart watches, tests adapt, and bans like this are easy enough to enforce. These are, however, part of a larger trend, one which bodes ill for other reaches of academia, ones which go far beyond just standardized tests.
Smart Glasses, AI, and Cheating in Schools
The rise of AI based cheating in schools has not been a huge surprise; students have always sought workarounds to actually doing all the work they are assigned. Smart Glasses are a new wrinkle however, much like cell phones before them, and many schools are left playing catchup.
Cell phone bans are becoming , more than a decade and a half after cell phone use first exploded across schools. It remains to be seen if smart glasses and other technology will follow the same trajectory, or if schools will act faster this time.
There is a lack of unified policy here; each state, district, and school having their own patchwork of regulations. What has been shown, however, is that these phone bans do lead to beneficial outcomes for students; increasing both attendance and scores on statewide standardized tests.
AI bans are also becoming common, but here again there is patchwork. There is a common agreement among educators that using AI counts as plagiarism and cheating, but what to do about it, how to handle it when it does occur, is much more debated. For a test like the SAT, this is easy enough, simply banning it from the room ends the discussion. For school assignments, however, this is harder. Homework is done at home, where AI tools create a powerful lure to cheat.
Even AI checkers, which colleges and schools alike are commonly using, are not foolproof or 100% accurate; many of these systems employ AI themselves, and are something of a black box; we can’t say why they ping some writing as AI, and others not. You can still get in trouble through them, and we do advise doing all your work yourself, but it’s clear this is a trend that’s here to stay, for the moment at least.
Smart Glasses, Standardized Tests, and You
The real question then, is what all of this means for you. The first lesson, and the most obvious, is simple: Don’t wear smart glasses to the SAT (or any other standardized tests, for that matter). This isn’t a grand revelation of course, but we should still say it, and be clear about it.
More pressing, and the deeper issue, is that of standardized tests and AI at all. As more and more work gets delegated to AI, whether a good idea or not, the smae is liable to be true of test prep, preparing for these tests, and the students who inevitably try to take shortcuts, either in preparing or on the tests themselves.
We don’t need to tell you that cheating is a bad idea, you already know that. Using AI in this manner, however, is especially dangerous, as it critical thinking and reasoning skills; exactly the kinds of things these tests are meant to assess. If you grow to rely on it during your schoolwork then, if the crutch is suddenly removed during the SAT, then you are going to have a bad time.
We don’t want to moralize needlessly; our goal is to help students prepare for and get into top colleges, and using AI tools incorrectly actively harms that. This is true for using it to help in your classes, and in other small and often unnoticed ways.
AI, for example, is not very good at helping students prepare for the SAT or ACT, or for tests generally. It can certainly feel like it is, a tool that always responds instantly and gives you feedback in real time. The issue, however, is that this is not a thinking machine; it doesn’t know anything, it just puts words together in orders that make sense statistically, based on its own internal workings.
Thus the advice it gives, the test prep solutions and explanations, can be groundbreaking and profoundly true, or useless babble, wrong in both specific and particulars. Both will be delivered with the same tone and confidence, and there is no way of knowing which is which.
When looking for help then, whether preparing for these tests, completing that difficult homework assignment, or writing that essay, we advise always doing things the old fashioned way. It is harder, and often not fun, but the work is the point; your muscles cannot grow without long hours of work and effort, pushing them to their limits, and your brain works the same way. If you only ever drive, then you can’t be surprised when you can’t run a marathon. If you only ever use AI tools for your work, then you can’t be surprised when you struggle with the SAT.
Final Thoughts
It’s sensible and good that the SAT is banning smart glasses, but this is emblematic of a deeper problem, one we have tried to explore in this article. It is tempting to make use of these tools; indeed, there are times and places where AI can be incredibly helpful. Your school work however, or your preparations for these standardized tests, are not among them.
If you are looking for real help, with either your school work or readying yourself to face these tests without AI assistance, ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø is what you need. Our mentors are trained experts, masters of their fields, and never rely on AI when teaching students or evaluating their work. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we’re always happy to hear from you.
