August 20, 2026, (Inside AI) — A University of California, Berkeley math professor has admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit an op-ed that criticized students' math skills, after student journalists flagged the piece as partially AI-generated.
Zvezdelina Stankova, a mathematics professor, confirmed she used AI software to "help edit" her 2,000-word article for the San Francisco Standard. The piece argued that some of her students were "five to eight years" behind and lacked a "middle school" education on fractions and basic algebra.
The revelation came after reporters at the Daily Californian, Berkeley's student newspaper, ran the text through AI-detection software Pangram. The tool estimated that 33% of the op-ed had been generated or assisted by AI.
Stankova defended the work, saying the article was "the result of several hundred person-hours of intensive human work, of which about 80 hours are my own." She added that AI was used to locate "numerous documents and articles related to the initiative" but that "all analysis is the result of the team members."
The incident has reignited debate over AI use in academic writing and standardized testing policies. Stankova's op-ed blamed UC's test-blind admissions for a "severe" math deficiency, arguing that removing the SAT allowed underprepared students into rigorous programs.
Detection tools and faculty guidance remain uneven
Pangram claims on its website that it correctly identifies AI-generated documents 99.66% of the time, or roughly one false positive per 24,000 documents scanned. But Camille Crittenden, a member of the UC system's own AI council, said "most AI detection tools are still quite unreliable and lack nuance."
Crittenden said she was unaware whether faculty had specific guidance on using AI in personal research or editorials. The UC system has an AI council that helps develop AI initiatives and resources for its colleges, but policies appear fragmented.
The San Francisco Standard, which published the op-ed, said in a statement: "While AI may assist, our expectation is that humans are behind every article we publish and take responsibility for every word. Our understanding in working with the author of this op ed was - and continues to be - that this piece reflects her and her colleagues' extensive original analysis, research and expertise."
Stankova called the AI-use controversy "orthogonal to and a distraction from the thousands of hours our team has put into the initiative" of reinstating standardized tests in UC admissions.
A wider fight over testing and AI norms
The debate over standardized testing at UC has intensified since 2020, when regents voted to phase out SAT and ACT requirements. Peer institutions including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Yale also dropped the tests, then later reinstated them.
Stankova's op-ed cited data suggesting the number of students with a "severe deficit" in calculus readiness tripled after test-blind admissions. She was among more than 3,000 UC faculty members who signed a June letter supporting admissions testing, and she said AI was also used for editing that letter.
The UC academic senate said in late July it would begin a review to determine whether standardized tests would again be used in admissions. If reinstated, changes would affect fall 2028 admissions at earliest.
Reactions on social media split sharply. Some called the AI use "ironic" for a piece about student underpreparedness. Others defended Stankova, saying the AI assistance did not undermine her argument.
