AI-proctored entrance exam at Mexico's largest university collapses; 58,000 students must retake in person
Published · updated · curated by AI Is Going Just Great
Source: arstechnica.com ↗
Almost half of the students were cheating when taking the exam online.
UNAM, Mexico's largest university, moved its entrance exam online for the first time this year, using Respondus LockDown Browser and Territorium's AI-powered webcam proctoring to monitor nearly 160,000 applicants. The AI watched for phones, earphones, and impersonation while one human supervisor oversaw every 150 test-takers. It didn't work.
Top scores exploded. Between 2021 and 2025, 3.5% of applicants scored 100 or above on the 120-question exam. This year, 16.3% did. The share scoring 110 or above jumped from 0.9% to 5.5%. AI expert Raul Rojas estimated that "almost half of the students were cheating when taking the exam online." UNAM canceled roughly 2% of exams for conduct issues. A university commission has now ordered all 58,000 applicants who would have qualified for admission — based on this year's scores and historical cutoffs dating back to 2021 — to sit for a new in-person exam with human proctors.