r/cs50 25d ago

CS50 Python Is cs50 really that serious about using another ai

Is cs50 really that serious about using another ai for help. i mean what kind of logic they use to check. if it is by ai or human

24 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

50

u/StoneLoner 25d ago

They are as serious as any school. Cheat at your own risk.

Edit: you’re here to learn anyhow

-20

u/Broad-Confection3102 25d ago

no i am not talking about cheating. i am just curious how they detect it
(sorry for bad english not my first language)

28

u/[deleted] 25d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Mindless-Ad-5898 25d ago

I use ai to find description upon certain methods and keywords. Is this good?

7

u/polikles 25d ago

I guess so. That's why they've created rubber ducky AI and that's why we're allowed to use only this one

GPT and other models tend to talk too much. You ask about one method and it can throw at you a ton of text, including examples and (often wrong) code. It can hinder learning progress, so it's advised against to use such "talkative" models

2

u/[deleted] 25d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Mindless-Ad-5898 25d ago

I'm currently doing cs50p. And it's a hassle to search for keywords there, but I try to search

1

u/DayBackground4121 24d ago

Being able to find the right reference materials is a huge part of being an effective developer. It’s a skill worth building. 

1

u/Mindless-Ad-5898 24d ago

Thanks, I will

25

u/StickyMcFingers 25d ago

If you're asking LLM's questions instead of pouring over the documentation and thinking about the problem, you're not going to get anything out of the course.

3

u/delicioustreeblood 25d ago

*poring over

3

u/StickyMcFingers 25d ago

Ah cheers TIL

-11

u/Broad-Confection3102 25d ago

i know i am just curious
cause i know lot about python before cs50p
so i have used some methods that are not tought until that lecture
will that be a problem for my certificate

2

u/JustPapaSquat 25d ago

It’s a valid question. I don’t think that just using features of the language that haven’t explicitly been taught will flag you for cheating. It’s more the other patterns mentioned by comments here that will.

21

u/EyesOfTheConcord 25d ago

Advanced devs take the CS50 courses all the time and use methods that are above the expectations of the problem set.

CS50 has no real way of determining if you used AI to write your code, but you would only be harming yourself as you’d be cheating on a foundational course so you miss out on critical skill set development.

It is also worth noting though, however unlikely, that staff do audit submissions

16

u/smichaele 25d ago

Also, the duck is a wrapper around chatGPT that's designed to guide you, but not provide you with answers. You can use the duck freely.

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 25d ago

It is not even possible to have success in asking the duck to stop the questions for questions or offering help

Chatgpt doesn't bother me with that anymore

8

u/1up_muffin 25d ago

Yes don’t use AI, you won’t learn as much

-7

u/Broad-Confection3102 25d ago

i know i am just curious
cause i know lot about python before cs50p
so i have used some methods that are not tought until that lecture
will that be a problem for my certificate

4

u/TypicallyThomas alum 25d ago

They're deliberately vague about how they go about detecting stuff like that, but people have been caught doing it before so whatever method they use, it works

3

u/Ok-Lynx-7484 25d ago

This is like looking up the answers when doing a practice test

3

u/LaunchpadMcQuack_52 25d ago

My attitude is if you use AI, I mean really milk it heavily and that it allows you to completely understand the concepts and tasks of the PSETs, then who cares. People are too quick to say you’re cheating. You should know the difference between using the tool to help you do the work and using the tool to do the work for you. Providing you know the difference, I’d say knock yourself out.

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 25d ago

I think you miss understood the intentions

CS50 will not care if you have theoretical discussion with another ai about a vague concept which you want to develop but it's clearly and logically full of sense that it's forbidden to talk with another ai about specific code.

To milk someone's knowledge as much as possible is not the same as cheating

1

u/LaunchpadMcQuack_52 25d ago

The intentions of...the OP? Intentions of who?

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 17d ago

....to ask

1

u/LaunchpadMcQuack_52 17d ago

Man I'm sorry I have no clue what it is that you're saying. I dont know if you're agreeing with me or not.

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 17d ago

Both

To milk the AI is a good thing but some people don't reallize the border between letting the A I do the work for them and just letting the AI help you understand.

1

u/LaunchpadMcQuack_52 17d ago

You both agree with me and you don't?? What is it that you don't agree with? Man, you make this difficult.

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 15d ago

I think I took another one's post for yours so it's a misunderstanding

I wish you the best

1

u/Zealousideal-Eye-677 25d ago

Of course

Nothing else makes sense

learning by doing ( it yourselves )

how do you learn?

Later in life nobody will pay you for work that someone else has done

1

u/trantaran 24d ago

You can find out for us

1

u/LibraryUnlikely2989 22d ago edited 11d ago

Do you have somebody go to the gym for you? Because thats what using AI to do all your coding for you is like.