Minister of Science Valery Falkov: AI devalues student thesis work

Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, stated that rapid development of artificial intelligence is devaluing traditional coursework and thesis papers of students — according to him, they no longer demonstrate the true level of preparation the way they did before.

What Exactly Did the Minister Say

Falkov believes that the approaches to assessing students that worked 10-20 years ago are now under question: artificial intelligence is changing the rules of the game in higher education faster than universities can respond.

• Coursework and thesis papers, according to the minister, no longer reflect the true level of student preparation
• Assessment methods that were effective 10-20 years ago are now, in his view, under question
• There are currently no unified standards for using AI in Russian universities
• In the future, thesis papers may disappear entirely — students will instead be tested orally

Why Universities Don't Yet Have Unified Rules

The key problem identified by the minister is the absence of unified standards for using AI in higher education. While some universities try to restrict students' use of neural networks, others, conversely, integrate them into the educational process, and there is no universal standard at the federal level. This raises questions about the assessment system itself: if a formally independent written work can be substantially written by a neural network, it is difficult for instructors to determine whether they are looking at the result of student work or a text generation product.

What Is Proposed as an Alternative

According to Falkov, one possible scenario for future development is a gradual move away from thesis papers in their current form and a shift to oral testing. This format is harder to fake using AI tools because students must demonstrate understanding of the material in real time rather than present ready-made text.

What It Means

The statement by the head of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education captures what university instructors have been saying for a long time: written qualification papers as a format for assessing knowledge no longer work in the age of accessible language models, and the education system will have to find new ways to evaluate students — more likely with greater emphasis on oral format and live defense.