Colleges Turn to Oral Exams to Combat AI Cheating

Professors say students are losing critical thinking skills as AI chatbots do their work for them

Mar. 25, 2026 at 9:18am

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Colleges across the U.S. are turning to oral exams and other in-person assessments to combat the growing use of AI chatbots to complete written assignments. Professors say students are submitting perfect homework but struggling to explain the material when questioned directly. Oral exams, a testing method dating back to Socrates, are making a comeback as educators try to determine what students are actually learning.

Why it matters

The rise of sophisticated AI chatbots like ChatGPT has led to concerns that students are increasingly outsourcing their thinking and losing critical thinking skills. Colleges are experimenting with oral exams and other in-person assessments to ensure students are engaging with course material rather than just having AI do their work for them.

The details

Professors at schools like Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and NYU are implementing a variety of oral exam formats, from Socratic-style questioning to AI-powered chatbot interviews. The goal is to force students to demonstrate their actual understanding of the material rather than just producing perfect written work. Some professors are also pairing oral exams with written assignments, forbidding AI use, and saying they can't trust written work alone anymore.

  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, engineering professor Huihui Qi launched a three-year study at the University of California, San Diego on how to scale oral exams.
  • In 2022, the launch of ChatGPT intensified interest in oral exams at colleges across the U.S.

The players

Chris Schaffer

A biomedical engineering professor at Cornell University who introduced an 'oral defense' requirement in his class last semester.

Emily Hammer

An associate professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania who now pairs oral exams with written papers in her seminar classes.

Panos Ipeirotis

A professor at NYU's Stern School of Business who unveiled an AI-powered oral exam last semester for the final exam in a class on AI product management.

Carolyn Aslan

Leads Cornell's oral exam training program.

Andrea Liu

A 21-year-old business major at NYU who experienced Ipeirotis' AI-powered oral exam.

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What they’re saying

“You won't be able to AI your way through an oral exam.”

— Chris Schaffer, Biomedical engineering professor

“It comes across as if we're trying to prevent cheating. That's not why we're doing this. We're doing this because students are actually losing skills, losing cognitive capacity and creativity.”

— Emily Hammer, Associate professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

“I want oral exams everywhere now. I want to pair it with every single written assignment. I don't trust written assignments anymore to be the result of actual thinking.”

— Panos Ipeirotis, Professor at NYU's Stern School of Business

“It felt kind of awkward to be talking to what was pretty much a blank screen.”

— Andrea Liu, 21-year-old business major

“Having that live check-in holds you accountable. It's a lot harder to look people in the eyes and say out loud, 'I don't know this.' And, that makes you realize, 'I should study this.'”

— Olivia Piserchia, Biomedical engineering major

What’s next

Several universities have invited Huihui Qi, the UC San Diego engineering professor, to provide faculty workshops or discuss her research on scaling oral exams.

The takeaway

Colleges are turning to oral exams and other in-person assessments to combat the growing use of AI chatbots to complete written assignments, as educators worry students are losing critical thinking skills. This shift highlights the challenges posed by advanced AI technology in higher education and the need to find new ways to ensure students are truly engaging with and mastering course material.