Steve Hanke has 'no problem' with his students using AI to cheat — as he's an 'old fox' who easily sniffs them out

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University for nearly 60 years, said he has "absolutely no problem" with students using AI to cheat because he can easily detect machine-written work, citing students' poor writing skills and his familiarity with their knowledge. Drusilla Blackman, former dean of admissions at Harvard and Columbia, agreed that AI use is usually "evident" to educators when submissions don't match a student's standard. Some teachers are also developing AI-resistant assignments, including reverting to handwritten work.

It's simpler than ever for students to cheat on their homework https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatgpt-homework-cheating-machine-sam-altman-openai-2024-8 using ChatGPT or another AI chatbot. But one professor says he has no trouble sniffing out machine-written work. "I have absolutely no problem with AI and students," Steve Hanke https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wall-street-jobs-hanke-johns-hopkins-class-buffett-investing-valuation-2023-11 , who's been teaching at Johns Hopkins University for nearly 60 years, told Business Insider. Hanke described himself as an "old fox" who finds it "very easy" to differentiate between a student's work and a chatbot's output https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-for-teens-test-help-cheat-homework-2026-8 . The professor of applied economics, who served on President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, pointed to the "poor writing skills" of today's students, even at elite universities, as the main reason he doesn't struggle. Hanke said it's "blatant when a student submission has been generated by AI." He also has a fairly good sense of his students' knowledge of economics, making it "pretty easy to spot" when a piece of work doesn't match their skill level, he said. "The only problem that AI poses is that it requires the old fox to be on guard, more than would have been the case sans AI," he said. Drusilla Blackman, a former dean of admissions at Harvard and Columbia, echoed Hanke's view during a recent interview https://www.businessinsider.com/drusilla-blackman-admissions-advice-wealth-parenting-children-college-strategy-careers-2026-8 with Business Insider. Blackman said that it's almost always "evident" to an educator when a student has used AI, as what they've submitted doesn't match their standard of work, writing, or critical thinking. "If they write something that is not proportional to that, it is detectible," said the founder of Deans of Admissions, a group that advises families on how to get their children into top-flight universities in the US and Britain. Beyond detecting chatbot-generated work, several teachers told Business Insider last year https://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-change-curriculum-assignments-student-ai-cheating-2025-6 that they were using AI defensively to develop AI-resistant assignments, and even reverting to handwritten assignments to discourage use of the tools.