Man Uses AI Tool Perplexity To Clear Online Test; CEO Advises Against It

A social media user's apparent pride in using AI tool Perplexity to complete an online test drew sharp disapproval from CEO Aravind Srinivas, who responded saying: “Absolutely don’t do this.”

Amrit Nigam attached a video of him apparently filling answers to an online test on Coursera using Perplexity on X. He tagged Srinivas and said: “Just completed my Coursera course , thank you @AravSrinivas, @perplexity_ai, @comet.”

It didn't go down well with Srinivas, however.

Nigam posted a comment in the same thread saying he had completed another course titled 'AI Ethics, Responsible Use and Creativity'.

While the use of AI in academics remains a complex and much-debated issue, when NDTV Profit asked Perplexity about its role in answering Coursera questions, it responded with the following:

"It is not recommended or ethical to use Perplexity or any AI assistant to write or complete a test on Coursera or any other academic platform. Coursera’s Honour Code and academic integrity guidelines strictly prohibit the use of unauthorised assistance during assessments, quizzes, or exams. Attempting to use AI tools to complete these tests can result in disciplinary action, including course failure, revocation of certificates, or ban from the platform. Coursera expects all learners to submit their own original work and uphold honest academic standards."

It further said, “For learning support, using AI to understand concepts or clarify doubts before taking a test is generally acceptable, but submitting AI-generated answers as your own is considered academic misconduct.”

On being asked why and how people still continue to do so, the AI tool said, "Many people attempt to use AI, like Perplexity or other tools, to get answers to Coursera tests and assignments by copying questions into the tool and submitting the suggested responses. However, Coursera has developed advanced AI-powered integrity systems that now include proctoring, browser lockdown, ID verification, plagiarism detection, and algorithms to flag AI-generated content."