Parents of a high school senior are taking their case to the courts after their son was punished for using AI to help with a school project.
They allege that the punishments handed down by the school in Massachusetts have put their child at a disadvantage when applying to the Ivy League colleges he was aiming for.
This case – the first of its kind – will be being followed avidly by AI ventures, including OpenAI, who have tried to woo educators with how their tools can complement their teaching.
Using AI as a Research Tool
The student is reported to have used AI for a project on basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which he was working on with a classmate.
When his teacher discovered this, the two students were separated and they were told they needed to start their work from scratch.
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2024 👨💻
Peter Farrell, the family’s lawyer, told NBC News that the student “wasn’t using AI to write his paper for him but was using it in a way akin to a Google search, to find and develop ideas.”
He also added that the school didn’t have an AI policy in place when the work was being carried out, and only added it a year after the student was punished.
A Lasting Punishment
The lawsuit states that the student, who had achieved a perfect score on the ACT standardized college entry test, was punished in a way that will impact his long term prospects.
NBC News reports: “The complaint said that the student received zeroes and an overall D on the assignment, pulling him down to a C for the semester and lowering his overall GPA. [He] also received Saturday detention and was initially barred from the National Honor Society.”
The family lawyer is arguing that the punishment was uncalled for, not least because the student didn’t break any rules.
Setting a Legal Precedent
The family lawyer has acknowledged that AI usage in school settings is “underregulated” and therefore there is confusion. But he added that schools need to recognize “[AI] is here to stay, it is ubiquitous, and it’s going to be a part of everyone’s everyday life in the very near future.”
He suggested that a shift in mentality is needed, insisting: “AI is not plagiarism. AI is an output from a machine.”
Pushing for a Decision
For the family of the student, time is ticking, as college admissions are already underway. They are hoping for their son’s grade to be changed and any accusation of cheating to be wiped from his record.
However, this is a lawsuit that could have far reaching implications. As schools grapple with how they can use AI for teaching, they also need to nail down their policies on its usage by students, and this requires an interrogation of what is acceptable and what is not. Yet again, technology is moving faster than legislation.
