Use agentic browsers for quizzes, trip planning and apartment search

Students report using agentic browsers to complete Canvas and Coursera quizzes, and one used them for trip planning, apartment searching and summarizing pages.

What They Did

Agentic browsers such as OpenAI's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet operate websites without keyboard or mouse input. Students posted online that they pointed them at Canvas and Coursera and had them finish assigned quizzes. Carter Schwalb, a Bradley University senior, said he used them to plan trips, search for apartments and summarize pages, but not to do assignments.

How It Went

The article gives no success rates or timings. It reports that quizzes were completed, and it notes that multiple-choice tests and discussion forums have no AI-detection checks. Perplexity's CEO told one student not to do this.

Worth Knowing

A UC Davis study found AI browser assistants can collect and share user data, including student records on Canvas, which raises FERPA concerns.