Bakersfield College president: AI will get 'harder to detect' in classes

Key Takeaways

1. Bakersfield College President Dr. Stacy Pfluger told KGET on July 2 that AI will be “harder and harder to detect.”
2. BC’s academic integrity page instructs students not to use AI unless a course explicitly allows it.
3. A faculty-approved Distance Education Handbook advises redesigning assignments and, in some classes, allowing AI with attribution.
4. Kern CCD’s 2026 plan includes an AI agent pilot for enrollment dashboards and a districtwide AI literacy assessment.

The summer comp class started with paper and pens. One page, handwritten, before laptops came out. A cold can of Diet Dr Pepper sweated on the lectern. The scene points to a simple shift many Bakersfield College instructors say they’ve made to keep kids doing their own work. And it’s the backdrop for what the college’s top leader said this week.

On Thursday, July 2, Bakersfield College President Dr. Stacy Pfluger told KGET that AI will get "harder and harder to detect." For BC students walking into fall classes in northeast Bakersfield, that means policies and assignments will matter more than software that tries to catch a bot.

What the president said

Pfluger didn’t frame the issue as a tech arms race. Her point, put plainly, was that catching AI by sight is already tough and getting tougher. That pushes the question back to the classroom, where instructors set expectations and decide how work is done.

How BC is setting the rules

BC’s Academic Integrity page spells out the college line: don’t use generative AI on assignments unless your instructor says you can. The page groups misuse under plagiarism, commissioning, or fabrication and gives model syllabus language ranging from “some use” to “no use.” It also pushes students to the Writing Center if they’re unsure, which is the right nudge.

The Distance Education Handbook, approved by faculty last fall, goes further. It tells instructors to decide if a course is open to AI, restricted, or closed, to emphasize process and reflection, and to consider in‑person writing or oral checks when AI is banned. One template tells students, “Within this course, you are welcome to use generative artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and other tools) with acknowledgement,” and then warns they’re responsible for errors or fake citations. Clear.

What teachers are doing

Across California, instructors have been blunt about why they’re tightening process. San Diego English professor Dan Cryer called using AI to write an essay “like bringing a forklift to the gym,” a quip that lands with any comp teacher who’s graded at midnight. In Bakersfield, BC’s own handbook encourages drafts, in‑class writing, and short oral follow‑ups. Quiz bluebooks stacked like napkins.

CSU Bakersfield is drawing lines too. The campus AI hub advertises training for faculty and students, and its student literary magazine, Calliope, says works created solely with AI won’t be accepted. Different school, same valley, same message for kids who bounce between BC and CSUB through transfer or dual enrollment.

What this means here

Kern Community College District is also testing AI on the administrative side. Its 2026 plan calls for an AI agent inside Tableau to support enrollment decisions and a districtwide AI literacy assessment this spring. That’s back‑office stuff, but it shows where local colleges think AI can help without grading anyone’s paper. For the classroom, Bakersfield College’s stance is steady: ask your instructor, expect to show your work, and when AI is allowed, cite it.

The comp instructor finished collecting the warm‑ups, clicked a pen, and moved to the board. Laptops stayed shut a minute longer.