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After receiving a mark immediately after submitting a history paper online, US elementary student Lazare Simmons realised that his paper was being marked by an algorithm rather than his teacher. With the help of his mother, a history professor, the two used subsequent tests to work out that the algorithm gave marks for target keywords rather than coherent short-answer explanations. This meant that full marks could be achieved for simply including a jumbled list of potentially relevant key words at the end of a response. The online education company Edgenuity didn’t comment on how it grades students, but clearly it’s got some work to do to keep students from gaming its marking criteria.

“With the help of his mother, a history professor, the two used subsequent tests to work out that the algorithm gave marks for target keywords rather than coherent short-answer explanations.”