Embracing AI in cyber security education: a postgraduate case study

While there is an increasing emphasis on preparing students for modern digital tools such as AI, educators face the dilemma of weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of this technology, including the problem of detecting its misuse. The authentic use of AI tools in education is an urgent requirement recently attracting significant attention. In this work, we are interested in the cyber security discipline and pedagogical approaches that may respond to the abovementioned challenge, focussing on assessment design tailored to integrating generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and the issue of their misuse in creating student assignments. We report on a case study involving a network and information security postgraduate module where students were educated about these tools and how they can help brainstorm ideas, outline reports, and fix grammatical mistakes in English writing. Apart from submitting reports, there were two additional components for their assessment: a viva session and a hands-on student demonstration. We argue that our approach can successfully assess authentic AI use. In addition, student feedback shows high satisfaction with the revised assess- ment format, the one-to-one interactions with lecturers and the role-play aspect of vivas. An analysis of assessment outcomes also indicates improved module performance. Our case study demonstrates the possibility of embracing AI in cyber security education while respecting its ethical use, with the additional benefits of enhancing student experience and academic performance.