Grit Matthias Phelps, a German instructor at Cornell University, requires students to complete one assignment per semester on manual typewriters to eliminate use of generative AI and online translation tools.

Phelps began the analog exercises in spring 2023 after determining that AI-produced submissions rendered assessment meaningless, sourcing dozens of typewriters from thrift stores and online markets; students must feed paper manually, strike keys with appropriate force, and return the carriage on the bell signal with no delete function or spellcheck available (Sentinel Colorado, March 2026). The sessions include her children aged 7 and 9 as tech support to enforce a no-phone rule.

Participants including sophomore Ratchaphon Lertdamrongwong and freshman Catherine Mong described initial confusion with the mechanics but noted the absence of notifications and the enforced single-task focus when writing a German-language critique of a film (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca via Sentinel Colorado, March 2026).

The tactic aligns with documented national patterns of returning to in-class handwritten exams, oral defenses, and blue-book testing as AI detectors have shown high false-positive rates; a Chronicle of Higher Education analysis tracked at least 12 institutions adopting similar low-tech protocols by late 2023 while a 2024 Inside Higher Ed survey found 41 percent of faculty citing AI-related integrity concerns as primary driver for assessment redesign (Chronicle of Higher Education, "Faculty Adapt Assessments as AI Use Grows," Nov 2023; Inside Higher Ed, "Survey: AI Forces Changes in Teaching," Jan 2024).