South Korean man faces criminal charges for cheating with AI smart glasses

A man in Gwangju, South Korea was charged after using AI‑enabled smart glasses to cheat on a state exam for a fire‑protection engineering license. A supervisor noticed a light reflection on the lenses, prompting an investigation. The suspect confessed, saying, “I developed an artificial‑intelligence application that works with the smart glasses and wanted to see if I could generate correct answers during a real exam.”

The District Prosecutors’ Office said the act violates South Korea’s National Technical Qualifications Law and is investigating possible penalties. The incident follows two other cases in May where men were caught using similar devices in national certification tests.

Authorities are now drafting stricter rules to prohibit smart glasses in examinations. Similar concerns have led China to ban such devices in university entrance exams, and the U.S. College Board plans to bar smart glasses from the SAT starting in 2026. Experts warn that the technology also raises privacy risks, as some models can record and analyze visual data in real time.