The parents of a Massachusetts teen are suing his high school, saying he was accused of cheating after using an artificial intelligence tool on an assignment.
The teen’s parents, Jennifer and Dale Harris, told Boston ABC affiliate WCVB that their son used artificial intelligence to assist Research Write a history paper, but not the paper itself—an important qualifier in their eyes.
“They told us our son cheated on an essay, but that’s not true,” Jennifer Harris told WCVB.
When the student’s use of artificial intelligence was discovered, he was detained and his grades were negatively affected, according to the student’s family.
In documents filed in federal court, the family claims the teen will be “irreparably harmed” as a result of the incident, noting that he is “applying to elite colleges and universities given his high level of academic and personal achievement.”
According to the documents, the student was banned from the National Honor Society.
The filing calls for the school to “exclude any zeros from the grade calculation for subject assignments” and to “immediately repair, reinstate and correct plaintiff students’ social studies letter grades to a grade of ‘B’.”
It also requires that the student “be immediately retroactively appointed and inducted” into the National Honor Society.
In the document, someone criticized the school’s rules regarding the use of artificial intelligence for a lack of clarity, saying the school handbook “does not contain any established rules, policies or procedures not only regarding the use of artificial intelligence, but also contains no provisions for administrators.” Steps teachers or students should take when encountering its use.
A copy of the school handbook seen by ABC News states that “unauthorized use of technology, including artificial intelligence,” may be considered cheating or plagiarism, but does not go into further detail on how the technology may or may not be used. Hence the gray area.
The manual defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or near imitation of another author’s language and ideas, including artificial intelligence, and representation of one’s own work.”
The school handbook also states that if teachers discover cheating, they must “record a failing grade on the assignment for each student involved” and notify the student’s parents.
Teachers must also notify the vice-principal “who will add the information to the student’s disciplinary file” and “further action may be taken if they deem it necessary.”
Jennifer Harris says schools need to clarify their rules.
“I also want them to develop a meaningful AI policy — something that teachers understand and then they can articulate to their students,” she said.
The document calls for school administrators to “receive training on the use and implementation of artificial intelligence in classrooms, schools, and educational settings by a formally qualified third party not employed by the school district.”
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the school district declined to comment for this story.
“In order to respect the privacy of the students involved, and because the litigation is ongoing, [Hingham Public Schools] No further details can be provided at this time,” the spokesman said.
At first glance, this situation seems simple. This kid is using artificial intelligence in a way that technically violates school rules. Therefore, he must bear the consequences. But, this is a case of cheating, isn’t it? As artificial intelligence continues to improve, such conflicts will only increase.
In a 2023 Study.com survey of 203 K-12 teachers, 26% of respondents said they had caught students cheating using ChatGPT.
That number is sure to only get higher as time goes on.
To play devil’s advocate, should we embrace artificial intelligence, especially for our children? As adults, shouldn’t we be using artificial intelligence to help us craft resumes and cover letters? We use artificial intelligence to plan parties and trips and make shopping lists.
Artificial intelligence is only going to become a more important part of life, so why not teach our children how to use it properly? Need a media literacy course? Teach children how to create the best, most effective artificial intelligence prompts. This is where the world is going, so why not try to gain as much knowledge as possible before it’s too late?
