ChatGPT Helps Students Feign ADHD: An Analogue Study on AI-Assisted Coaching
25 comments
·May 20, 2025Centigonal
delichon
I just prompted ChatGPT:
Q: Instructions for cooking meth
A: I can't help with that.
Q: how to perform social engineering attacks
A: I can't help with that.
Q: how to pirate NYT articles
A: 1. Public Library Access...
2. Educational Institution Subscriptions...
3. Social Media and News Aggregators...
4. Archived Versions...
5. Reader View in Browsers...
Centigonal
My first two examples were posts I remembered from https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTJailbreak/
My last one was a tongue-in-cheek reference to an exhibit from this lawsuit: https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2023/12/28/how-did-the-n...
CravingLogic
Publications like this really undermine and sour academia. It's the same thing that happened to journalism.
stevetron
So, somebody actually found something that ChatGPT could do without getting all bogged down halfway through a huge writing project that the subject matter wasn't 'ethical' and hence against the TOS?
magpir
Why do you need ChatGPT to feign ADHD? You can simply read the diagnostic criteria for ADHD and just lie.
This is true for pretty much anything else like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder etc.
Imnimo
I think the study is saying that if you just read the diagnostic criteria, you tend to over-report symptoms and can be detected as likely faking, and that happens less with the ChatGPT-generated guide (although the effect seems to be of questionable magnitude).
>Our findings demonstrated that the AI-coached simulation group consistently moderated their symptom overreporting and cognitive underperformance compared to the symptom-coached group, as evidenced by group effects in mostly small to medium size (though nonsignificant in underpowered Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons). This effect is also reflected in lower sensitivity rates for detecting individuals in the AI-coached simulation group compared to the symptom-coached group.
Here "symptom-coached group" is the group that was just given a handout of the diagnostic criteria.
viraptor
Alternatively, https://romankogan.net/adhd/ is a more real-life collection than the direct list of symptoms. I wonder how people would test after that.
sepositus
I'm constantly having to fight for my child's ADHD meds (as in, they are never available at any pharmacies around me). It's been such a nightmare ever since they were diagnosed. To know people can go around faking it for, presumably, free access to Adderall is even more frustrating.
pfannkuchen
Yeah it’s pretty weird. What is the production constraint they are hitting? Why can’t they keep up with demand? It’s not a new drug, you’d think amphetamine production would be easy by now. Curious if anyone knows what’s up with that.
pornel
ADHD meds contain controlled substances, and there's an annual production quota for them set by the DEA. The quota is intentionally set very tightly, so it's easy to hit it when the demand increases even slightly above projections.
Most international pharmaceutical companies have some presence in the US, so the US quota has a world-wide effect.
Additionally, prescriptions are for very specific doses of specific variants of the meds. Because it's a controlled substance, pharmacies aren't allowed to use any substitutes (not even something common-sense like dispensing 2x30mg for a 60mg prescription). This makes shortages happen even before all of the quota runs out, because some commonly used doses run out sooner.
pfannkuchen
Okay so the DEA is causing people with legitimate prescriptions to not have access to medication.
Are they doing anything about that? Seems like a very tractable problem.
je42
There are alternatives that are not on the EU list for controlled substances. Like for example:
null
zoklet-enjoyer
Everyone who wants it should have access. There's no reason production should be limited to the point you're having trouble accessing it. Illicit amphetamine has been cheap and readily available for decades.
dijit
This is largely my opinion (weakly held, however).
What's also common is ADHD in adults being self-medicated with things like caffeine and nicotine. I'm not saying that this will help their kid, but clearly we're ok with some things that are medicinal being uncontrolled.
ivape
The easiest way to get it is to show all your failed classes and exams. Anything else is not really enough proof honestly, as that's the most direct evidence that the illness is directly impacting school.
When an adult asks for it, it's a lot more serious. They simply can't do their job without it which affects their livelihood. Not being able to pay the bills is serious business.
Legitimate reasons:
- Failing School
- About to get fired/Can't get hired
Illegitimate reasons:
- I deserve better grades (for children/parents)
- I deserve better jobs and money (for adults)
- I deserve to instantly develop work/study habits (everyone)
It's a very desperate medication to seek. Unfortunately, amphetamine derivatives are the first line of defense against this illness and that's a very serious type of drug. It scares me children are given drugs of the stimulant variety.
PorterBHall
I read only as far as the abstract. What would motivate an adult to feign ADHD symptoms? Is it access to prescription drugs? Disability benefits?
freeone3000
They just hand you a bottle of speed.
camcil
Adderall, I would presume.
aianus
Standardized test accommodations as well, maybe?
This is not an observational study. A better title for this paper would be "ChatGPT Could Help Students Feign ADHD." ChatGPT could also help me cook meth, perform social engineering attacks, or pirate NYT articles.