AI Glasses Make South Korean Schools Unbearable

JAKARTA - Schools in South Korea are made anxious by AI-based smart glasses. The device is able to do 30 math practice problems for suneung, South Korea's college entrance exam, in just 18 minutes. The score is almost perfect, 96 out of 100.

Launching a report by Korea JoongAng Daily, quoted Thursday, June 25, the ability was shown by Techmong, a technology YouTuber with 930,000 subscribers. The video uploaded on Saturday went viral and reached more than 600,000 views in three days.

In the video, Techmong types commands through a mobile app connected to the glasses. The camera on the glasses then scans the question sheet. In about 30 seconds, the answer appears on the lens screen.

Of the 30 questions, only one answer was wrong. The error was said to have occurred due to scanning problems.

The findings have South Korean schools on edge. The first semester final exams are approaching. Concerns have grown after last month a TOEIC test center, an English test for international communication, caught participants wearing AI glasses to cheat.

A number of schools are starting to move. An SMP in Gyeonggi sent a notice to parents that smart glasses were prohibited from entering the examination room. Students who wear them will be considered cheating.

A high school in Seoul is holding training for teachers to recognize smart glasses and arrange exam rooms. The deputy principal said guidelines for students on AI glasses would be provided soon.

Other schools in Gyeonggi are planning to borrow metal detectors from local education offices. Such devices are usually used at the national exam site suneung. One junior high school in Seoul is even considering buying a detector with its own budget.

However, teachers consider this step to be insufficient. Smart glasses technology is considered to be developing faster than surveillance devices in schools.

"We are considering using metal detectors in the classroom, but they can't detect devices made of titanium or plastic," said a high school teacher in Gangwon.

According to the teacher, most of the current AI glasses can still be recognized with the naked eye. However, he assessed that it was only a matter of time before a device that was difficult to distinguish from ordinary glasses appeared.

"The Ministry of Education and the regional education offices need to develop more specific and effective guidelines," he said.

Still referring to the report of Korea JoongAng Daily, the response of the education authorities so far is still limited to calls for tighter supervision. The South Korean Ministry of Education sent a circular letter to regional education offices on June 16 to tighten the management of examinations.

For the national exam suneung in November, the ministry plans to include AI glasses as a strictly prohibited item.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Education Office also sent a circular on June 18. The content highlights five AI glasses models that are already on the market.

Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Education Office issued guidelines on June 11. Supervisors are asked to pay attention to participants with unusually thick glasses or participants who repeatedly touch the frame of glasses during the exam. If the behavior is considered suspicious, glasses can be checked after the exam.

Among teachers, there are complaints that the digital threat is still trying to be faced with manual supervision. Surveillance eyes and metal detectors are considered not enough to deal with increasingly small and smart devices.

Kim Myuhng-joo, Executive Director of the AI Safety Research Institute and Professor of Information Security at Seoul Women's University, said schools needed clear educational measures and sanctions.

"We need educational alternatives, such as asking students to sign a voluntary statement acknowledging sanctions for owning smart glasses, as well as strengthening penalties," Kim said.

Park Ju-hyung, a professor at Gyeongin National University of Education, assessed that schools needed a more elaborate procedure. The examination of students' glasses before and after the exam, he said, needs to be made clear so that teachers do not bear the burden alone.

According to Park, administrative guidelines must be practical and can be applied directly in the examination room.