Zvezdelina Stankova, a math professor at UC Berkeley, admitted to using AI software to help edit an op-ed on student math skills published in the San Francisco Standard. The piece criticized the university's test-blind admissions policy, suggesting that students were being admitted without adequate preparation for calculus. According to AI-detection software, 33% of the op-ed had been generated or assisted by AI, with Stankova using the software to locate documents and articles related to the initiative. The incident has sparked debate over the use of AI in academic work, with some criticizing Stankova's actions as ironic given her criticism of student underpreparedness.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A math professor at the University of California, Berkeley, criticizing a “severe” math deficiency among students in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit the piece.
asserted
professor → criticize → piece
The Standard published a 2,000-word piece by Zvezdelina Stankova last week, in which the professor said some of her math students were “five to eight years” behind and lacked a “middle school” education on fractions and basic algebra.
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some → publish → fractions
Stankova said the UC system’s test-blind admissions were to blame, suggesting that students who weren’t sufficiently prepared for the rigor of Berkeley’s mathematics program were admitted because a longstanding benchmark like the SAT had disappeared.
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benchmark → say → SAT
Over the weekend, journalists at Berkeley’s student newspaper, the Daily Californian, noticed the op-ed’s language sounded like AI.
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language → notice → AI
According to Berkeley sophomore Francis Luo, they ran it through AI-detection software Pangram, which claimed 33% of the op-ed had been generated or assisted by AI.
uncertain
% → accord → AI
In response, Stankova admitted she had used AI software to “help edit the piece” but that the article was “the result of several hundred person-hours of intensive human work, of which about 80 hours are my own”.
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hours → admit → which
Stankova said by email she had used AI to locate “numerous documents and articles related to the initiative” but that “all analysis is the result of the team members”.
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analysis → say → members
When asked about their AI usage policy, the Standard – which published the op-ed – shared this statement by email: “While AI may assist, our expectation is that humans are behind every article we publish and take responsibility for every word.
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we → ask → word
Our understanding in working with the author of this op ed was – and continues to be – that this piece reflects her and her colleagues’ extensive original analysis, research and expertise.”
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piece → work → analysis
Stankova’s admission has prompted a larger debate on social media on the use of AI by academics.
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admission → prompt → academics
Some criticized Stankova, calling its use “ironic” for a piece discussing students’ underpreparedness, or arguing an op-ed should have been entirely original and written without artificial assistance.
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ed → criticize → assistance
Others defended the professor, saying the use of AI was not a serious issue and distracted from the argument at hand.
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use → defend → hand
Stankova, in her email, said “the issue of how AI was used … is orthogonal to and a distraction from the thousands of hours our team has put into the initiative” of reinstating standardized tests in admission.
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team → say → admission
The debate over whether tests like the SAT or ACT should be again used in UC admissions has intensified over recent years.
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tests → use → years
In 2020, the UC regents voted to phase out the tests as a requirement for application; so did institutions like Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Yale.
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institutions → vote → Harvard
Each of those peer colleges have since reinstated the requirement.
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Each → reinstate → requirement
In her op-ed, Stankova shared data that she and her peers had analyzed, which suggested that the number of students with a “severe deficit” in their readiness for a calculus I class had tripled after test-blind admissions were introduced.
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admissions → share → class
Prior to publishing her op-ed last week, Stankova – in addition to more than 3,000 other UC faculty members – signed a June letter supporting admissions testing.
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Stankova → publish → testing
Stankova, one of the letter’s authors, said AI was also used for editing there.
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AI → say → editing
The UC academic senate said in a late July statement that it would begin a review to determine whether standardized tests would again be used in admissions.
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tests → say → admissions
If reinstated, the changes would affect fall 2028 admissions at earliest.
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changes → reinstate → admissions
The UC system also has its own “AI council”, which helps develop AI initiatives and resources for its colleges.
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which → have → colleges
Camille Crittenden, a member of the council, said she was unaware whether faculty had any specific guidance regarding the use of AI in personal research or editorials, but said that “most AI detection tools are still quite unreliable and lack nuance” with regard to Pangram.
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tools → say → Pangram
On its website, Pangram claims it correctly identifies AI-generated documents 99.66% of the time, or gives one false positive about every 24,000 documents scanned.
uncertain
it → claim → documents
