{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T06:56:57.740Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"midterm","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-alcorn-state-instructor-hidden-prompt-midterm-32-students-failed-portion-for-ai-written-answers","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Gibson discovered his students’ use of AI by hiding instructions in white ink within the test directions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'he secretly embedded instructions telling the AI to include information about Madagascar in a way that makes no sense.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Gibson wrote in hidden white text'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the instructor's videos, he hid in white text in the directions of a midterm discussion question an instruction to place the word Madagascar somewhere in the response in a way that makes no sense.","causal_attribution":"The instructor's account relayed by three outlets from one origin; reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Sure enough, 32 out of the 35 students across two classes simply copied the question, pasted it into a chatbot, then copy and pasted its output into the answer window.'; 'In the viral TikTok post below, an exasperated Gibson said all the students he caught using AI failed this portion of their midterm.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Jason Gibson went viral on TikTok after posting a video on July 20 explaining how 32 of his 35 students failed a portion of the midterm after they used AI to write their discussion post response.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the instructor, 32 of 35 students across two classes pasted the question into a chatbot and submitted its output, which mentioned Madagascar in nonsensical sentences, and those students failed that portion of the midterm.","causal_attribution":"The instructor's account in one origin; no student account; reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Of the 32 students, Gibson said only two attempted to contest the grade, and only one was able to successfully change her grade. That student, Gibson said, claimed that she had read the hidden white text through dark mode and assumed the \"Madagascar\" prompt was part of the assignment.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'he gave the 32 failing students the option to resubmit and write their own response for a different grade. Only two took him up on the offer.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the instructor, he let students contest the grade; two did, and one student had her grade changed after saying she had read the hidden white text in dark mode and assumed the instruction was part of the assignment.","causal_attribution":"The instructor's account; the student's explanation is relayed by him; reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Gibson revealed that his students' final grades consisted of eight A's, 14 B's, 10 C's, two D's and one F grade.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The instructor later reported final grades of eight A, 14 B, 10 C, two D and one F.","causal_attribution":"The instructor's account relayed by one outlet; reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"32 students failed a portion of a midterm for chatbot-written answers (instructor's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"one student who said she had read the hidden text in dark mode and taken it as part of the assignment was penalised until her grade was changed (instructor's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.techspot.com/news/113243-professor-invisible-prompt-trap-catches-32-students-cheating.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). TechSpot report of 27 July 2026 relaying the instructor's TikTok videos and embedding the first one; the video itself was not viewed.","independence_group":"instructor-tiktok-videos-july-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.foxnews.com/media/mississippi-professor-reveals-hidden-way-expose-ai-cheating-viral-video","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Fox News report of 2 August 2026 relaying the instructor's TikTok series, including the second video on contested grades and a later video on final grades. Same origin as s1.","independence_group":"instructor-tiktok-videos-july-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.supertalk.fm/alcorn-state-professor-uses-hidden-method-to-catch-32-students-using-ai/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). SuperTalk Mississippi report of 3 August 2026 relaying the instructor's videos. Same origin as s1.","independence_group":"instructor-tiktok-videos-july-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["education"],"unknowns":["The date of the midterm (the first video was posted on 20 July 2026).","Which chatbot or chatbots the students used.","Whether the university or any student has given an account.","Whether the failed portion affected any student's final grade."],"geography":{"basis":"The classes were taught by an Alcorn State University professor; SuperTalk Mississippi and Fox News describe him as a Mississippi professor at Alcorn State. Student residence is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a response to AI use: an instructor reports failing 32 students on part of a midterm after chatbot answers betrayed a hidden prompt, and he describes one student whose grade was changed after she said she had read the hidden text in dark mode and taken it as part of the assignment. The account rests on the instructor's videos as relayed by three outlets; no student is identified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"According to the instructor, students pasted a question carrying a hidden instruction into a chatbot and submitted its answers, which inserted Madagascar in nonsensical sentences he quoted; he failed those students on that portion of the midterm. The chatbot's answers to the students are thus described and connected to the penalty. One penalised student said she had read the hidden white text in dark mode and assumed the instruction was part of the assignment, so for her the penalty followed the trap rather than a described AI output. The chatbot is not named, and the account comes only from the instructor.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Alcorn State instructor says 32 of 35 students failed part of a midterm after a hidden prompt showed chatbot-written answers; one later had her grade changed","summary":"An Alcorn State University history professor in Mississippi said in TikTok videos from 20 July 2026, reported by TechSpot, Fox News and SuperTalk Mississippi, that he had hidden an instruction in white text in a midterm discussion question telling an AI to place the word Madagascar in the answer in a way that makes no sense. According to his account, 32 of 35 students across two classes pasted the question into a chatbot and submitted its output, which mentioned Madagascar in nonsensical sentences, and those students failed that portion of the midterm. He said he let students contest the grade or resubmit their own response; two contested, and one student had her grade changed after saying she had read the hidden text in dark mode and thought it was part of the assignment. He later reported final grades that included one F. The account rests on the instructor's videos; no student or university statement is reported.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-27","aiSystem":"An unnamed chatbot into which, according to the instructor, students pasted a midterm discussion question carrying a hidden white-text instruction; its answers included the word Madagascar","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the instructor, 32 students failed a portion of a midterm after a hidden prompt showed their answers were chatbot output; one student's grade was later changed after she said she had read the hidden text in dark mode and taken it as part of the assignment.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":31,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The instructor says 32 students failed that portion of the midterm (TechSpot, Fox News, SuperTalk). One of them said she had read the hidden white text in dark mode and assumed the Madagascar instruction was part of the assignment, and her grade was changed (Fox News), so she is counted among other people harmed and 31 among participant users; the split rests on the instructor's account.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.techspot.com/news/113243-professor-invisible-prompt-trap-catches-32-students-cheating.html","primarySourceLabel":"TechSpot, 27 July 2026: professor's invisible prompt trap catches 32 students cheating on their midterm","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:20:45.962948+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:20:45.962948+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["academic-integrity","higher-education","midterm","hidden-prompt","grade-penalty","consequential-response","mississippi"]}]}