Artificial intelligence has led to a huge increase in fake qualifications and educational fraud, experts have warned, urging countries to improve global cooperation and use new technologies to verify qualifications.
The global fake degree industry has grown to a $22 billion business as demand for higher education rises, UNESCO’s higher education chief Noah Sobe told radio on July 8.
“Technology, which can be our friend, makes it easier, in some cases, to acquire and spread illegal information and false guarantees,” said Sobe.
He highlighted the role of UNESCO’s World Conference on Higher Education in dealing with this issue. The agreement, which now has more than 40 national organizations, encourages governments to take steps to end the counterfeiting of higher education qualifications through international cooperation.
Joanne Duklas, executive director of the Groningen Declaration Network, said the level and sophistication of identity fraud has changed dramatically in recent years.
“Gone are the days when it’s just a piece of paper,” he said, pointing to AI-assisted forgery, document forgery, diploma mills, contract fraud and identity fraud.
Duklas warned that behind all the fake credentials are real-world consequences for students, universities and employers.
“[Addressing fraud] it requires not only expertise, but also expert judgement, trained inspectors, clear policies, trusted institutional relationships, strong quality assurance procedures, monitoring and awareness,” said Duklas. “No country can solve this independently.”
Andreas Snildal of the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills described fraud as a global industry that requires coordinated international action.
Norway checks about 20,000 foreign qualifications each year, but limited resources make it difficult to verify all guarantees directly with issuing institutions, he said. Instead, the authorities combine legal sanctions with teams of experts who investigate fraud, document analysis, database verification and cooperation with foreign partners.
“We have implemented many procedures and measures to prevent and detect fraud,” he said, adding that strong networks of national information centers will make border verification faster and more reliable.
Technology companies are also adapting to the changing landscape. Simone Ravaioli, executive director at Instructure, an e-learning provider, said AI has changed the landscape of data fraud.
“Fifteen years ago, digital was the solution to diploma fraud,” he said. “Today, digital is both a disease and a cure.”
While AI makes fake credentials easier to produce, Ravaioli stressed that technologies like cryptographic authentication and digital credentials can also make degrees more secure. The challenge is to ensure that solutions are accessible to institutions at different stages of digital development, he added.
“What the industry needs, and what will help us on the digital authentication side, is to fight new threats from technology itself,” he said.
