Secret calculator hack brings ChatGPT to the TI-84, enabling easy cheating : technology

[–] DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee 181 points 4 days ago (3 children)

If a kid is smart enough to figure this out and make it work for them, they're gonna be fine...

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 80 points 4 days ago (8 children)

Back when we were doing quadratic equations; I wrote a program on my TI-84 that would ask which parts of the equation you already had, and would fill in the rest for you.

My teacher liked it so much he bought a transfer cable for those calculators so he could get a copy for himself. Then used to to grade tests.

[–] ShunkW@lemmy.world -3 points 4 days ago (3 children)

So you didn't get the transfer cable with your calculator? Smells fishy

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[–] Khanzarate@lemmy.world 44 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I did the same thing. It was allowed in general, with the correct thought, "if you can code it yourself, you know the content"

I had another "program" that would fail to run but that's because I wrote notes into it. Doubt that was allowed.

[–] SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 18 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Here in NZ they do a factory reset on your calculator at the start of every exam.

[–] piecat@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Oh I would have been so pissed. I was programming on my calculator 24/7 instead of my classes.

I wrote a sudoku "editor"

I put that in quotes because I had a grid that could be navigated, arrows moved, storing the numbers, had number entry down. And when it was time to implement the solver, I learned the hard way what p vs np is.

[–] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 4 days ago (2 children)

They did that here too, but students would use a cheat program that made it look like teachers were resetting it, but really the memory was safe

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[–] Maestro@fedia.io 88 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yes, but the kids buying the modded devices may not be

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[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

What would happen if now plug in another calculator? AFAIK that only a P2P connection and never meant for >2 parties.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Its been quite a while since I've taken a proctored exam, but then all the proctors would clear all the memory on your calc before they'd let you use it for test. Is that not the case anymore?

[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The article said it can be download "on demand" so that might make the clearing pointless.

[–] Jekyll@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Make people switch devices, problem solved. Does not work without tampering with the hardware

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[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 6 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Yeah, nobody in class is going to suspect the kid with the arduino-type science project mess of wires duct taped to their calculator.

For those too lazy to read, that's how this works. An external micro controller talks to the calc through the IO port, and does the Wifi stuff, acting as a middleman.

Edit: I did not see the video.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 days ago

For those too lazy to watch the video, the whole thing is eventually concealed within the calculator.

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[+] twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

[deleted]

[+] spyd3r@sh.itjust.works -6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Utilizing the tools available to you to solve problems is not cheating, its resourcefulness, and using your brain. Which is of course frowned upon in schools that exist to churn out mindless drones for corporate enslavement.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 days ago (3 children)

ChatGPT is famously bad at the things you'd use a calculator for though

[–] Baguette@lemm.ee 2 points 3 days ago

Id see it potentially being useful for starting a problem. Could probably point you towards the right direction for physics problem even if the numbers are off

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[–] obbeel@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 4 days ago

Hot stuff. I got to say, YouTube has some pretty interesting things.

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 108 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Oof getting ChatGPT to help on a test is likely to lead to some wrong answers.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 33 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Probably mostly correct answers though...

[–] SuiXi3D@fedia.io 34 points 4 days ago (5 children)

You know what they say: C’s get degrees.

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[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 13 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Idk, if there is one thing it does consistently well its standardized tests.

Not that it can be used in any non mathematical class and if teachers do actually pay attention.

[+] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip -6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Cept you can’t use any wifi models on any standardized test for this reason.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's not a WiFi model, a custom module was hidden inside the calculator to provide the WiFi connection.

[–] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip -4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Ah yup should’ve read the article lol. That’s a whole lot of work and effort into cheating, which probably won’t work? Needs a whole thing to it sounds like plug into the link port? Which would stick out… so like… idk MAYBE they are stupid and don’t notice but like… I wouldn’t bet my life on that.

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There's a video in the article showing the whole process. The new module was completely hidden inside the calculators case and soldered to the internal connections.

Until you actually open it up, it doesn't look abnormal at all.

[–] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip 0 points 4 days ago

Ah, interesting. That’s quite a bit of work more than expected then lol. Link things at the top assumed it’d plug into that. Seems like a whole lot of work where if you’re into fixing shit and soldering and all that you probably don’t hate math much and thus… learning algebra 2 for a damn SAT wouldn’t be that hard?

I suppose maybe the GRE or whatever? Idk what all that entails and if they allow these.

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[–] turkalino@lemmy.yachts 85 points 4 days ago (19 children)

Ok but calculators are only allowed in math class and if there’s one thing language models suck at, it’s doing basic math. Forget anything at least as complicated as algebra

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

They're great at multiple choice when they've seen the test versions

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[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 41 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I used to store formulas in basic programs in my ti84 but they were never useful because I didn't need help memorizig formulas

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[–] throbbing_banjo@lemmy.world 39 points 4 days ago (7 children)

But can you still play Drug Wars?

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[–] Jackcooper@lemmy.world 36 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Wat? Does it have wifi?

[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 61 points 4 days ago

They added wifi with a extra circuit board hidden inside the calculator case. It's connected to the calculators communication port, and pretends to be another calculator. So they can use the calculator's built in "send" function to send variables/text/etc to the hidden card, which then uses it's internet connection to look up answers and send the results back.

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