Criminal probe launched over use of ChatGPT to cheat on Vietnam's national high school exam
Police in Lam Dong Province have launched a criminal investigation into a cheating incident during Vietnam’s 2025 national high school graduation exam, in which a student used a concealed camera and ChatGPT to obtain answers during the literature test.
B.T.Q., a 17-year-old resident of Lam Ha District, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam’s Central Highlands, admits to receiving the literature test questions of the 2025 national high school graduation exam and using ChatGPT to solve them. Photo: Supplied
The provincial police department said on Friday that its investigation unit had filed charges under Article 337 of the Penal Code for “deliberately disclosing and appropriating state secrets.”
The cheating incident took place at Thang Long High School in Nam Ban Town, Lam Ha District.
During the literature exam on Thursday morning, invigilators at room No. 2206 noticed suspicious behavior from 18-year-old candidate N.P.T.S.
Upon inspection, officials discovered he had brought high-tech equipment into the exam room, including a button-sized hidden camera and wireless earpiece.
According to the initial investigation, S. had purchased the equipment via Facebook and enlisted 17-year-old B.T.Q. to help solve the test remotely.
N.P.T.S., a 18-year-old student in Lam Ha District, Lam Dong Province, was found to have used high-tech devices to cheat on the literature test of the 2025 national high school graduation exam. Photo: Supplied
Using an IoT-based app, the student live-streamed images of the exam questions to Q., who was standing by on a prearranged Facebook Messenger call.
However, due to being distracted by online gaming, Q. only accessed the test 45 minutes after the 120-minute exam began and managed to capture just the second page.
He used ChatGPT to generate an answer and read it back to S., who then copied the response into his exam.
The invigilators quickly intervened and confiscated the equipment.
Authorities confirmed that the act constituted a serious breach of national security regulations.
Under Decision 531 issued by the Prime Minister in May 2023, all national high school exam papers are classified as “Top Secret” and may only be declassified after two-thirds of the allotted exam time has passed.
Investigators have so far found no evidence that the test materials were leaked to social media or third parties.
The case has been handed over to the provincial security unit for further investigation.
Police pledged to continue examining the suspects’ motives and any other individuals involved to uphold the integrity and fairness of the national exam system.
The 2025 national high school graduation exam, with the participation of over 1.1 million students across all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities, took place on Thursday and Friday at nearly 2,500 exam sites nationwide.
Minh Duy - M.V. / Tuoi Tre News