Approved work does not prove who did it
A preprint studied submissions on one online research site. AI help appeared in 1% of the submissions and was mostly tied to a few workers. Assisted work was often approved, even when the site barred AI use. Approval tells you the work passed a check. It does not prove the worker could do it alone.
What the source reports
Sehgal and colleagues studied an online research platform. They used site records, a survey and histories that workers shared. AI help appeared in 1% of observed submissions. Most of that use was tied to a small group of workers. The assisted work was often approved, even in cases where AI use was not allowed. An approval can show that a submission passed a review. It cannot show that the worker had the skill to do it without help. This is a study of one platform. The one percent figure is not a rate for schools or all online work.
Original source
- Title
- AI-Assisted Submissions in Online Research Are Rare and Highly Concentrated but Routinely Approved
- Author
- Neil K. R. Sehgal, Manuel Tonneau, Dunigan Folk, Lyle Ungar, Sharath Chandra Guntuku
- Publication
- arXiv
- Date
- Thursday, October 8, 2026