Using AI as a marking tool for exam answers

As exam preparations get underway I want to say a few cautionary words about AI. In recent months I’ve seen it used increasingly by parents and students, not to write essays but to set and mark exam papers, which has led to very varying results. I just want to urge caution. AI is a good servant but a poor master, meaning the result you get will only be as good as the prompt you give it. If, for example, you ask an AI to write a grade 9 essay on Climate Change it might come up with something that looks OK. However this is very different from asking it to write a grade 9 essay in response to a particular question from an exam paper, when you have provided both the question and the mark scheme and asked it to provide a rationale for the marking. Do you see what I mean? AI is much better with subjects that have right/wrong answers, like maths or science. However, with a nuanced subject such as English, it can be very problematic. I’m putting together an AI resource for parents which will be available free of charge, but meanwhile if you are using AI for exam practice be as specific as possible and ask it to explain its marking. We live in exciting times, don’t we?

Because this is so important I have drafted the sort of prompt you could give to an AI if you are giving it one of your essays to read and mark. It is important to give the AI the precise paper and clear instructions. I would like to add that this is what can make an AI a great learning tool as oppose to just a cheat sheet. The first is brain growing and the second is brain depriving. Anyway, here it is:

I wrote this essay in response to the question: "Explore the character of Koro in The Whale Rider." This question is from Edexcel IGCSE English Literature, Paper 1 (4ET1), Question 3. I am pasting the mark scheme below. Please do the following:

1. Apply the mark scheme to my essay and give me a mark with a clear explanation of why it falls in that band.

2. Identify two or three specific strengths in my essay, quoting from it to show what you mean.

3. Identify two or three specific things I could do differently to improve my mark, again quoting from my essay to show exactly where and how the improvement could be made.

4. If possible, rewrite one paragraph of my essay to show me what a higher-band response to the same point might look like.

And yes I ran it through an AI to check it was comprehensive