AI Detectors don’t work. Full stop. Let’s move on.

Asked whether universities can still guarantee a student actually learned something, one of the field's most respected assessment researchers said no. This is the honest version of the AI and assessment conversation in 2026 — not the keynote one.Dale Leszczynski and Nick McIntosh work through the op-ed war between Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Cath Ellis, including the twist where the integrity academic's own piece was pulled for undisclosed AI use. They get into why AI detectors fail in both directions, and the Corbin and Dawson research on smart glasses that's dismantling the case for supervised exams. They look at what the student surveys actually show — near-universal AI use, but students reporting deeper learning when assessment restricts it — and the cognitive cost the sector is starting to take seriously. Then the turn toward what's being tried: the two-lane model, programmatic assessment, Leon Furze's reflection on three years of the AI Assessment Scale, and the Castlereagh Statement's call for coordination. There's no tidy answer here, by design.00:00 Where the assessment debate actually sits in 202601:49 Moore-Gilbert's op-ed and "industrial-scale fraud"03:02 Cath Ellis's rebuttal04:05 The twist: an op-ed pulled for undisclosed AI06:38 Why AI detectors don't work08:37 The same problem inside newsrooms09:33 Talk is Cheap: rules versus redesign10:42 The sector blinks toward secure exams11:35 A researcher's confession14:07 Orals were "immune" — until the glasses14:34 Mass-market smart glasses and assessment15:41 Merleau-Ponty and dual transparency16:30 A desert island and a pencil17:38 From prohibition to inspection19:08 What the student surveys show19:55 Desaturation and false mastery20:57 Use it or lose it22:30 What's being tried: matrices and two lanes23:20 Programmatic assessment25:09 Lethal mutations and the AI Assessment Scale27:51 A field maturing28:14 The Castlereagh Statement28:56 The escape hatch🎙️ Adjunct Intelligence is the weekly briefing for higher-ed professionals who want AI as a cheat code—not a headache.Every episode:• Real tests of AI tools in education and professional workflows• Fast, Monday-morning actions you can actually try• Clear signal through the noise (no hype, no jargon)👉 Subscribe on [YouTube] | [Apple Podcasts] | [Spotify]👉 Share this with a colleague who still says “I’ll figure AI out later”👉 Join the conversation on LinkedIn with #AdjunctIntelligenceStay curious. Stay intelligent. Stay the human in the loop.