Because of the impact of AI on education, US universities are seeing a rise in academic dishonesty due to tools such as ChatGPT. Such AI systems can produce essays and solve tough problems in seconds, which may encourage students to avoid thinking for themselves. As a result, educators are bringing back the handwritten blue book exam, which has been used for years.
Since ChatGPT’s rise in late 2022, sales of blue books—lined paper booklets used for in-class essay exams—have soared. Sales at Texas A&M University went up by more than 30%, and the University of Florida saw a nearly 50% increase. The Wall Street Journal reported that blue book purchases at the Cal Student Store at UC Berkeley rose by 80% over two years.
This shows that more people are concerned about the honesty of take-home assignments. Unlike essays generated with AI, blue book exams demand real-time, analytical thinking—something machines can’t easily replicate. According to Lucas Ropek of Gizmodo, the need to write quickly and without preparation makes it difficult for AI to help with cheating.
But these approaches can still fail sometimes. Although Roaring Spring Paper Products gains from the change, the main problem remains: AI is changing the way we learn. Philip D. Bunn, a professor at Covenant College, warns that in-class essays can’t fully replace the depth of traditional research papers. “There is a real loss,” he says, if we stop doing long-form writing.
The main issue is cultural. According to a recent survey, 89% of college students said they have used ChatGPT for their assignments. Many detection tools fail, and students are starting to view education as a way to cheat. As AI continues to develop, educators believe that policy changes, not just written rules, are the true answer. Even if many blue books are sold, academic integrity could still decline if there are no clear rules and ethical standards.
