Berkeley mathematician Richard Borcherds grades homework on completion, citing student AI use
UC Berkeley mathematics professor Richard Borcherds, a 1998 Fields Medal winner, now gives homework credit for completion rather than correctness because of widespread AI use. Coverage differs on whether it centres on his view of AI's future or on how other universities are adapting.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Richard Borcherds, a UC Berkeley mathematics professor who won the Fields Medal in 1998, has stopped grading students' homework for correctness and now awards credit for completing it. New York PostR “Borcherds, who received the prestigious Fields Medal in 1998 for his contributions to mathematics, said he now awards credit based on whether students complete their assignments rather than whether their answers are right.” Read at New York Post ↗ NewsweekN “now gives students credit for completing their homework on time, rather than assessing whether their answers are correct” Read at Newsweek ↗ Centre · 1He says the change responds to AI: according to Newsweek, he argues that grading for correctness "adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty." NewsweekN “"Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty."” Read at Newsweek ↗ Centre · 1Newsweek reports Borcherds said AI use for homework is now widespread, that there is "no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work", and that obvious AI mistakes are becoming rarer. NewsweekN “He also said there was "no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work,"” Read at Newsweek ↗
Mixed · 2Borcherds acknowledges the completion-based approach is "not a very good system" but says he currently has no better alternative. NewsweekN “While he's acknowledged that it's "not a very good system," he doesn't currently have a better alternative.” Read at Newsweek ↗ New York PostR “He acknowledged that the approach falls short of an ideal grading system but said he currently has few alternatives.” Read at New York Post ↗ Right · 1He also said he no longer sees value in paying graders to check correctness when AI can increasingly do the work, according to the New York Post. New York PostR “said he no longer sees the value in paying graders to evaluate whether students' homework answers are correct when AI can increasingly do the work for them” Read at New York Post ↗ Mixed · 2Borcherds said that if AI keeps improving at the present rate, "in a few years, there'll be nothing human mathematicians can do that AI can't do better." He said five years ago mathematics looked relatively protected from AI, and that he now has no idea what to advise aspiring mathematicians. New York PostR ““If AI continues to improve at present rate, then, in a few years, there’ll be nothing human mathematicians can do that AI can’t do better,”” Read at New York Post ↗ NewsweekN “Now, he has said he doesn't know what advice to give students considering a career in the subject.” Read at Newsweek ↗
Right · 1The New York Post adds that he expects universities to adapt slowly and mathematics departments to operate much as now for several years. It links his comments to OpenAI's announcement that its AI agents had apparently solved the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem. New York PostR “He predicted that mathematics departments could continue operating much as they do now for several years, even as AI capabilities advance.”“OpenAI’s announcement that its AI agents had apparently solved the notoriously difficult Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem” Read at New York Post ↗ Right · 1On university policy, the Post reports that Anne Marie Richard, Berkeley's chief academic technology officer, said the Academic Senate division asks instructors to state AI rules in their syllabi, and that restrictions vary by class. It also reports, citing the student paper, that Berkeley judged AI-detection tools such as Turnitin and Rumi too unreliable to adopt campus-wide. New York PostR “the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate asks instructors to include statements in their syllabi outlining course expectations, including rules governing AI tools.”“determined that the tools were not reliable enough to adopt as a standardized campus-wide solution” Read at New York Post ↗ Centre · 1Newsweek places the case in a wider debate, citing a May Cornell study of more than 95,000 students at 20 US public research universities in which 37 percent reported at least monthly generative AI use and 9 percent reported using it to cheat. NewsweekN “among more than 95,000 students across 20 U.S. public research universities, 37 percent reported using generative AI at least monthly, while 9 percent reported using it to cheat.” Read at Newsweek ↗
Centre · 1It also describes alternatives: oral exams paired with written work at the University of Pennsylvania, and an MIT committee report and statement from President Sally Kornbluth calling for rethinking assessment. Newsweek said it had contacted Borcherds, Cornell and MIT for comment. NewsweekN “At the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Professor Emily Hammer has paired oral examinations with written papers in her seminar classes.”“Newsweek has contacted Borcherds, Cornell University and MIT for comment.” Read at Newsweek ↗ Mixed · 2The two outlets name different original sources for Borcherds' remarks: the Post cites the Daily Californian, Berkeley's student newspaper, while Newsweek cites "The Inc." and the "California Post". New York PostR “Borcherds told the Daily Californian, Berkeley’s student newspaper.” Read at New York Post ↗ NewsweekN “telling the California Post” Read at Newsweek ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Uses Borcherds as a hook for an explainer on how teachers and universities are adapting assessment to AI, with research and examples from Cornell, Penn and MIT.
- Emphasis
- Oral exams, institutional responses, survey data on student AI use and cheating.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention the OpenAI Navier-Stokes announcement, Berkeley's policy on syllabus AI statements or its rejection of AI-detection tools.
- Charged language
- “watershed moment”“Assessment reform is necessary and urgent”
Right1 outlet
- Framing
- Personal, headline-driven story of a professor who "refuses" to grade, pointing to a "worrying trend" and linking it to AI's march into mathematics.
- Emphasis
- Borcherds' pessimism about the future of mathematics, the OpenAI claim, and Berkeley's decentralised AI policy.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Offers little data on how widespread student AI use is or on what alternatives other schools are trying.
- Charged language
- “refuses to grade”“worrying trend”“No point”
- For example
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“UC Berkeley professor refuses to grade his students’ homework after noticing worrying trend: ‘No point’” — New York Post
“The shift highlights the growing challenges universities face as students gain access to AI systems capable of tackling increasingly sophisticated academic work.” — New York Post
What every side reports
- Richard Borcherds, a Berkeley mathematics professor and 1998 Fields Medal winner, now grades homework on completion rather than correctness.
- He cites AI use by students and admits the system is imperfect, with no better alternative.
- He says that if AI keeps improving, human mathematicians will soon have nothing to offer that AI cannot do better, and he does not know what to advise aspiring mathematicians.
Where accounts differ
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Original source of Borcherds' quotes
- Centre
- Newsweek attributes them to "The Inc." and the "California Post".
- Right
- The New York Post attributes them to the Daily Californian, Berkeley's student newspaper.
Richard Borcherds person
Says grading for correctness encourages AI use and penalises honest students, so he grades on completion while admitting it is imperfect. He is pessimistic about human mathematicians' future.
“"Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty."” — Newsweek
““I have no idea what to advise.” — New York Post
University of California, Berkeley organisation
Per the Post, leaves AI rules to individual instructors, requiring syllabus statements, and has not adopted AI-detection software campus-wide because the tools were not reliable enough.
“Individual instructors therefore retain control over AI policies in their classrooms.” — New York Post
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre1 article
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Berkeley Professor Stops Grading Homework Over AI—How Teachers Are Adapting
Neutral Explainer using the Berkeley case to survey how universities are changing assessment in response to AI.
Right1 article
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Mixed Sensational headline about a professor who "refuses" to grade, but the body is a fairly straightforward account of his remarks and Berkeley's policy.
- 25 Oct 19:57 First New York PostR UC Berkeley professor refuses to grade his students’ homework after noticing worrying trend: ‘No point’
- 26 Oct 14:55 +18h 58m NewsweekN Berkeley Professor Stops Grading Homework Over AI—How Teachers Are Adapting
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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