The parents of a high school student in Massachusetts are reportedly suing the school after the boy’s teacher gave him a bad grade on an assignment for which the boy used AI.
The parents say he didn’t even use an LLM to write the actual paper, just to research the paper. They’re arguing that the bad grade prevented their son from making the National Honor Society and could affect him down the line when he applies to colleges.
It sounds a little dramatic, but was what the kid did really so bad?
The family says it doesn’t even constitute cheating, at least as the school’s rules on cheating and the use of AI in school work define it. ABC News obtained a copy of the school handbook, which broadly classifies any use of AI as cheating or plagiarism. It doesn’t get into the specifics, like the scenario presented in this case where the kid supposedly used AI to gather the necessary information so he could write the paper on his own, without AI.
The parents want the school to provide more clarity and detail on exactly how AI can and cannot be used in school work. That sounds fair enough—but one could argue that the school also already did that with its broad statement about the use of AI for class assignments, which they reportedly issued after the paper was turned in. Maybe that broad statement is the clarification: Artificial intelligence cannot be used in your school work in any way shape or form.
The U.S. legal system will now sort that out as the case has been elevated up to the federal courts.
In their lawsuit, the family argues that other students in the school have faced less severe consequences for similar infractions. They want the school to revise its grading policies in regards to the use of AI for research purposes, and they want their son allowed into the National Honor Society, and they want the teacher to give their son a “B” on the assignment at the center of all this.
They didn’t even want to go for the “A”?
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The post Parents Sue School After Son Gets Bad Grade for Using AI on Homework appeared first on VICE.
