Making the rounds on socials today is a new generative A.I. agent that logs into your class website and takes the course for you. I have no inclination to promote this, so I am removing the name of the service, since it’s easily found if someone wanted to.
This agent is supposed to allow a student to clock out from taking a course entirely. The description is worth reading.
How can [Agent] do all this?
[Agent] has his own virtual computer with a browser, just like you do. He can navigate websites, watch videos, read documents, type in text fields, click buttons, and submit forms. Anything you can do on a computer, [Agent] can do.
How does [Agent] access my Canvas?
You link your Canvas account once during setup. [Agent] uses your credentials to log in, view assignments, and submit work on your behalf.
Will my professor know?
[Agent] submits assignments from your account just like you would. The work is original and generated per-assignment — not copied from a database.
As a professional educator, and one who has tried to give students a good online learning experience, you better believe that I have feelings about this. Quick notes.
Some students would never use this and recoil at the thought. We like those students.
Some students would try to use it for everything. Way back in 2020, Ian Bogost noted that for a lot of people, university is about an “experience” rather than an education. Maybe they are there to play sports, maybe they are there to party, maybe they are there hoping to find someone to marry. Passing classes while avoiding most or all of the work has always been possible for students with enough money to hire “essay writing services.”
Some students would use it for some classes. And this is a group that I sympathize with. We educators should be thoughtful about why students might want to using this, even if they know they are cheating themselves out of learning.
Some may have very specific interests and don’t see the value of taking courses that they see as unrelated to those interests. Some students would use if if they thought the workload was unreasonable or that the work boring. Some students would use it to not fail, particularly if they were going through a rough spot personally. We’ve loaded up a lot of consequences for students if they fail classes, not the least of which is financial aid.
I want taking a class to be so rewarding that the thought of giving that to someone else is as attractive to a student as a machine that offers to eat your food, drink your beers, watch your favourite movies, and go on dates for you.
And Charlotte Moore-Lambert noted that a lot of people have to fight, and fight hard, for the privilege of getting homework.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to make any class that engaging. I try, but I have to be honest that I’m not that good. Few are.
Update, 23 February 2026: Oh, here’s something I hadn’t even thought of. Security. Mett Seybold on Bluesky wrote:
Students are going to voluntarily give their campus login info to this thing(.) This thing that I, who fancy myself a pretty top-notch portfolio sleuth, have been researching for two hours & can tell you next to nothing about who made it, who funds it, what other companies it integrates with.
Caveat emptor.
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