This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

- I'm Beth. - And I'm Phil.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn all the vocabulary you need to talk about this topic.

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Now, today's story.

Could cheating in exams be about to get easier?

Artificial Intelligence apps, like ChatGPT, are capable of generating human-like text.

Teachers and academics are worried that this might make it impossible to tell whether a text was written by a student or a computer.

Some experts say this could be a positive development.

You've been looking at the headlines; what's the vocabulary?

We've got "fuelling", "desperate for", and the "dark ages".

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.  

Let's have a look at our first headline.

Yes, this one is from "City A.M.".

"Use of AI apps is fuelling plagiarism as barrister warns more needs to be done to stop online exam cheating."

So, AI⏤that's artificial intelligence⏤apps are allowing plagiarism⏤that's a type of cheating⏤according to a barrister, which is a type of lawyer.

But we are looking at "fuelling".

Now, Phil, I know this word "fuel"⏤I put it in my car.

Well, yes, I'm sure you do, because "fuel" as a noun is what you put in a car.

If you don't put fuel in, it won't go anywhere.

But this headline used it as a verb, and what it means by this is that these apps are making plagiarism easier.

Yes, that's right.

Now, "fuel" can also mean "to encourage".

So, if you do something you enjoy, then you fuel your passion for it if you keep doing it.

Yes, and if a famous person talks about their relationship, they might fuel speculation about their personal life.

That's true; well, we hope that we are fuelling your passion for learning English.

Let's look at that again.

[fuelling: making or causing something]

[These dark winters are really fuelling my passion for staying in and playing video games.]

Let's have our next headline.

OK, this one is from "The Mirror".

"Teachers desperate for help over AI chatbot writing entire essays for cheating students."

So, teachers in the UK are worried that AI is going to write whole essays for students⏤that's definitely cheating.

But we are looking at the word "desperate".

OK, we've got it here in the phrase "desperate for help", which is very common.

And if you're "desperate for" something, it means that you "really badly want or need" something.

Now, in the context of this story, it means that teachers really, really want help knowing how to deal with students using AI apps.

Yeah, and there are lots of things that you can be "desperate for".

So, for example, if you are really thirsty, then you're desperate for water.

If you are very ambitious, then you might be desperate for a chance to show what you can do.

Now, "desperate" on its own has a slightly different meaning.

If you're in a desperate situation, it means you're in a situation that's really bad.

Yeah, so, you can be "desperate for" something, but if you are just desperate on its own, then this is quite negative.

OK, let's look at that again.

[desperate for: want something badly]

[I'm so hungry. I'm desperate for a sandwich.]

Next headline, please.

Yes, this one is from the "Financial Times".

"ChatGPT will force school exam out of the dark ages."

So, the writer of this story thinks that ChatGPT⏤that's a type of AI⏤will force the education system to improve how exams work.

Now, we're looking at the phrase the "dark ages".

Now, Phil, I've been doing some research, and it seems that the Dark Ages were the period of time between the 6th and 10th centuries.

So, that's over a thousand years ago; why are we talking about it now?

Well, you're not wrong; that's the literal meaning.

But here, it's an exaggeration.

When we "force something out of the dark ages", it doesn't mean that it's over a thousand years old.

It means that it's very out-of-date, and we want to bring it up-to-date.

OK, so, here, it's suggesting that the exam system is out-of-date, and this AI is going to force it to update.

Yes, and we can also use "dark ages" if we're talking about someone's attitudes.

If you say that someone's attitudes are "out of the dark ages", then it means you think their opinions are very old-fashioned.

Yeah, and when we use in this way, it's quite negative, isn't it?

- Yes. - OK, let's look at that again.

[dark ages: old-fashioned; from a different period of time]

[He dresses like he lives in the dark ages. No-one wears those clothes nowadays.]

We've had "fuelling": making something happen.

"Desperate for": you badly need something.

The "dark ages": something is old-fashioned.

Don't forget there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

We'll see you next time.

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