Find a bottleneck in the lunch queue, safely break a campus chatbot, suggest a drone route that stays within the battery reserve, or cool a classroom. These are some of the problems engineering students will be asked to work on using generative AI tools in the upcoming exams.Students will be assessed not on whether or not they use AI tools, but on how well they use them — framing the problem, generating a prompt, and interpreting the result. What’s more, engineering institutions will be using AI tools to assess students.In the example of lunch queue, students may be asked to recommend changes that reduce the wait time by considering inputs such as 10-minute arrival counts, the number of active counters, and queue length. The prompt must provide AI estimates of arrivals, service rates, and utilization of an extra counter, a pick-up line, and a schedule.This problem can test mathematical ability and how well they use AI to solve a real-world problem. The other problems given as examples can measure learning outcomes in cybersecurity, heat transfer and flight mechanics, as they require basic inputs such as cruise speed and power for a drone route, and room dimensions, humidity readings, outdoor weather readings, and occupant count for calculating heat transfer.At IIT Madras, some faculty members permit students to use generative AI to write code in projects or assignments. “Students will be assessed based on the logic they apply to solve the problem, not the language. They have to submit the prompts they used,” said Prathap Haridoss, dean (academic courses), IIT Madras.“We will allow students to use generative AI tools in exams, like an open-book exam model, in the next semester. We are test-running the process,” said Abhay Meganathan, vice-chairman of Rajalakshmi Group of Institutions.Anna University is also into it. “Students can use AI while doing projects and assignments, but they have to write the basic concept on paper, which will be given weightage,” said V Kumaresan, registrar (in-charge), Anna University.VIT Chennai is designing higher-order thinking questions to challenge students. “Depending on the course, faculty members will have the freedom to allow AI tools. They will conduct quizzes and group discussions to let students demonstrate the project in the classrooms,” said G V Selvam, vice-president, VIT.Not just engineering colleges have embraced AI. Stella Maris College allows AI for polishing language and correcting grammar, but not generative AI for content. “For every assignment, the teacher will mention whether AI can be used and to what extent,” said Rebecca Devaprasad, internal quality assessment cell coordinator.Ethiraj College for Women will introduce plagiarism checks for class assignments. “They can use AI for searching information. However, they cannot reproduce available content as theirs,” said college principal S Uma Gowrie.
