Cited by 8Academic integrity and plagiarismArtificial Intelligence in EducationArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 72 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Cheating in the second year of generative AI chatbots: a follow-up study on high school student cheating behaviors

Open access
Chen, Ruishi, Lee, Victor R., Kuo, Annie Camey, Pope, Denise Clark, Miles, Sarah·2026·Educational technology research and development

Abstract

This study examines the evolving relationship between AI chatbots and academic integrity and students’ AI chatbot usage in high schools one and a half years after the release of ChatGPT. Through a comprehensive survey of students across six schools (N = 4,354) in the United States, we investigated students' self-reported cheating behaviors, patterns of AI use across different school-related tasks, and student perspectives on appropriate AI use in academic settings. Our findings revealed that overall cheating rates remain stable at 72.06%, consistent with historical baselines and prior studies, suggesting that AI availability has not changed overall cheating prevalence in high school. Additionally, more students reported using AI chatbots for support tasks like concept explanation and idea generation. Regarding students' reported preferences for allowing AI chatbots for school-related tasks, at this point, they still strongly supported using AI for conceptual understanding and brainstorming, and they maintained clear boundaries against using it for completing entire assignments. These findings suggest that while AI’s prevalence has not altered the patterns of academic integrity at schools, students' evolving perspectives on appropriate AI use provide valuable insights for schools and administrators integrating AI into traditional school settings.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This follow-up survey of 4,354 U.S. high school students in the 2023–2024 academic year finds that overall self-reported cheating remained stable at 72.06%, comparable to pre-AI baselines and the earlier post-ChatGPT study. Students reported more AI chatbot use for support tasks such as concept explanation and idea generation, while strongly opposing AI use for completing entire assignments.

Key findings

  • Overall cheating remained stable: 72.06% of students reported at least one academically dishonest behavior in the prior month, with school-type rates of 78.99% in charter, 74.69% in public, and 61.22% in private schools; the authors compare this to prior rates of 59.9% and 69.5% in Lee et al. (2024).
  • AI chatbot exposure and use increased: more than 90% of respondents reported knowing about or having used an AI chatbot; common uses were explaining concepts/problems/topics (81.63%), idea generation (68.65%), and text summarization (59.21%).
  • Use of AI or digital devices as unauthorized aid (item C41) was reported by 24.27% of students, higher than the prior study’s 6.44% and 15.20% for two schools; using AI to complete all of a paper/project/assignment ranged from 9.16% to 15.50% across school types.
  • Students maintained boundaries: 59.87% said AI should “always” be allowed for conceptual understanding/explanations, while 82.73% said it should “never” be allowed for completing entire assignments or writing all papers.

Methods

  • The study used the same survey instruments as Lee et al. (2024), administered February–May 2024, taking 20–42 minutes with 150 items; the sample included 4,354 high school students from six schools (two public, two private, two charter) across four U.S. states, with an 82.71% response rate.
  • Cheating and chatbot-use items were recoded to binary “No/Yes”; allowability items treated “I am not sure” as non-responses, excluding less than 10% for items A1–A4 and A8 and less than 16% for A5 and A6.
  • Reliability tests yielded Cronbach’s alpha of 0.878 for cheating, 0.645 for AI chatbot use, and 0.821 for AI allowability; analysis used descriptive comparisons with prior work and qualitative coding of open-ended responses (N = 83 for allowability, N = 131 for usage), with no inferential tests because the surveys used different sets of schools and students.

Limitations

  • The paper states that different samples across years preclude valid longitudinal or quasi-longitudinal inferential tests, so cross-year comparisons are descriptive rather than inferential.
  • The paper states that self-reported survey data may introduce bias, especially underreporting due to the negative connotations of academic dishonesty, meaning actual cheating may be higher than reported.
  • The paper states that the six-school sample, though more diverse than the prior study, limits generalizability to the broader U.S. high school population, and that the 2024 data capture only a specific moment in rapidly evolving AI development; the text also makes evident that the cross-sectional design cannot establish causal effects of AI on cheating.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s11423-026-10587-1

Cites

31 of 31 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Image 1
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 2 Distribution of students' self-reported AI chatbot usage in the 2023-24 survey
Fig. 2 Distribution of students' self-reported AI chatbot usage in the 2023-24 surveyCC-BY · From the PDF
Image 3
CC-BY · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

38 Own result · 36 Sources not found · 20 Own interpretation · 15 Own method · 9 Not checked yet · 7 No full text of the sources · 5 Check pending · 1 No basis given

Verify all 10 references — free account

Show all 58 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 39
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 50
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 3
73 of 73
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    By 2024, more schools and teachers had begun developing classroom policies on AI use and integrating AI literacy into their curricula.

    “By 2024, more schools and teachers had begun developing classroom policies on AI use and integrating AI literacy into their curricula, providing students with more guidance for their technology use decisions and making it more visible when a student was in violation of academic integrity expectations.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Minor modifications to the survey instrument did not compromise comparability with Lee et al. (2024).

    “We adopted the same student survey instrument with minor modifications to incorporate questions that emerged from previous students' short responses.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The six schools are sufficiently representative of U.S. high school students for generalizing the findings.

    “These six schools were selected based on student availability and to ensure demographic variety across the sample.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Students' self-reported cheating and AI use behaviors are accurate.

    “we examine students' selfreported academic dishonest behaviors and AI usage patterns.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    AI chatbots have been accessible to students for more than 1.5 years.

    “given that AI chatbots have been accessible to students for more than 1.5 years”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The frequency of cheating within a one-month period may not accurately reflect long-term habits.

    “as the frequency within a one-month period may not accurately reflect long-term habits.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The qualitative themes identified from the short-answer responses are representative of the broader student population.

    “The team reviewed all responses together and discussed to determine themes that appeared consistent and representative across all responses.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The study's use of self-reported survey data may introduce potential biases.

    “this study's use of self-reported survey data may introduce previously noted potential biases.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Different schools may exhibit distinct patterns of AI adoption and academic dishonesty.

    “Different schools may exhibit distinct patterns of AI adoption and academic dishonesty.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Several contextual factors beyond school type may also impact students' behaviors in technology adaptation.

    “Several contextual factors beyond school type may also impact students' behaviors in technology adaptation.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    School-specific policies on AI use, varying levels of technological infrastructure, and differences in academic support systems could all affect students' engagement with AI tools.

    “School-specific policies on AI use, varying levels of technological infrastructure, and differences in academic support systems could all affect students' engagement with AI tools.”
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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

5 of 5

Citations

Cites

Show all 31 references

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Farhi, F., Jeljeli, R., Aburezeq, I., Dweikat, F. F., Al-shami, S. A., & Slamene, R. (2023). Analyzing the students’ views, concerns, and perceived ethics about chat GPT usage. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 5, Article 100180.
  2. Lee, V. R., Pope, D., Miles, S., & Zárate, R. C. (2024). Cheating in the age of generative AI: A high school survey study of cheating behaviors before and after the release of ChatGPT. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 7, Article 100253.
  3. Papakostas, C., Troussas, C., Krouska, A., & Sgouropoulou, C. (2023). Exploring users’ behavioral intention to adopt mobile augmented reality in education through an extended technology acceptance model. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 39(6), 1294–1302. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2101144 · DOI
  4. Rettinger, D. A., & Gallant, T. B. (Eds.). (2022). Cheating academic integrity: Lessons from 30 years of research.
  5. Rogers, E. M. (1962). Diffusion of innovations. The Free Press.
  6. Sahin, I. (2006). Detailed review of Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory and educational technology-related studies based on Rogers’ theory. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 5(2), 14–23.
  7. Sidoti, O., & Gottfried, J. (2023). About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who’ve heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.or g/short-reads/2023/11/16/about-1-in-5-us-teens-whove-heard-of-chatgpt-have-us ed-it-for-schoolwork/

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Metadata

Authors
Chen, R., Lee, V. R., Kuo, A. C., Pope, D. C., & Miles, S.
Affiliations
Stanford University (US)
Corresponding author
Chen, Ruishi
Venue
Educational technology research and development
Published
2026-02-03
Volume
74
Issue
2
Pages
639-667
ISSN
  • 1042-1629 (ISSN-L)
  • 1556-6501
OpenAlex
W7127392638
Cited by
8
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 8
FWCI
40.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Educational Technology Research and Development (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
John Templeton Foundation (63355)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Academic integrity and plagiarism
  • Social Sciences › Education › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Keywords
academic dishonesty, generative AI chatbots, ChatGPT, academic integrity, high school students, student attitudes toward AI, AI-assisted learning

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Cheating in the second year of generative AI chatbots: a follow-up study on high school student cheating behaviors. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1007/s11423-026-10587-1
The paper
Chen, R., Lee, V. R., Kuo, A. C., Pope, D. C., & Miles, S. (2026). Cheating in the second year of generative AI chatbots: a follow-up study on high school student cheating behaviors. Educational technology research and development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-026-10587-1