AI providers as criminal essay mills? Large language models meet contract cheating law

Abstract

Many jurisdictions have passed very broadly drafted laws to tackle academic integrity issues, criminalising the provision or advertising of contract cheating or essay mills, such as the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 in England and Wales. Recently, AI models such as chatGPT have amplified academic concerns. Here, we look at the intersection between these phenomena. We review academic cheating laws, showing that several may apply even to general-purpose AI services like chatGPT, without knowledge and intent. We identify a range of illegal adverts for AI-enhanced essay mills, and illustrate how difficult it is to draw the line between writing an essay and supporting it, such as by generating bone fide references. We also outline the consequences for intermediaries hosting these ads or providing these services, which may be significantly affected by these primarily symbolic laws. We conclude with a series of recommendations for policymakers, legislators, and education providers.