Dartmouth College said on Wednesday that its provost had resigned after a review found that his use of A.I. fell short of the university’s code of ethical conduct.
The announcement of the departure of Santiago Schnell, a prominent academic who served in the university’s No. 2 post, followed published disclosures by the college’s student newspaper, The Dartmouth, as well as the news site Semafor, that some of his written work appeared to have relied on A.I.
Semafor cited an August commentary by Dr. Schnell — published in The Washington Post, about the use of A.I. to cheat in school — that it said had been written by A.I. (Semafor said it had also spotted the use of A.I. in opinion articles published in The New York Times.)
In response to the claims, Dr. Schnell, a mathematical biologist, issued a statement of apology but said his use of A.I. was limited to “language refinement, copy editing, improving clarity and organization and making writing processes more efficient.”
But a faculty-led committee found that Dr. Schnell, who had served as provost since last year, had used A.I. improperly. Among the panel’s findings was that he had used the tool to “meaningfully alter his writing” and had “failed to disclose his use of A.I.,” violating at least one publication’s disclosure requirement.
Sian Beilock, Dartmouth’s president, announced that Dr. Schnell had resigned following the review and would be leaving the college, adding that it was his decision.
“I expect our senior leaders to hold themselves to the highest standards,” Dr. Beilock added in a statement released by her office.
In an email last night, Dr. Schnell declined to comment immediately, saying he was examining the contents of the review committee’s findings.
Dr. Beilock also announced that Matthew Delmont, a professor of history and an expert on the civil rights movement, would serve as interim provost.
Dartmouth, in Hanover, N.H., has been at the forefront of embracing A.I., entering an agreement last year with Anthropic and Amazon Web Services to provide faculty and students access to the technology.
In her statement, Dr. Beilock said the university will be hosting a previously scheduled conference this week to discuss A.I.’s potential, as well as questions about how the technology is used.
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