Ella Stapleton, a graduate of the business department at Northeastern University in the US, filed a formal complaint and demanded a refund of more than $8,000 for the course when she discovered fragments generated by ChatGPT in the instructor's handouts, even though students were officially prohibited from using AI.
Ella Stapleton, a graduate of the business department at Northeastern University in the US, filed a formal complaint and demanded a refund of more than $8,000 for the course when she discovered fragments generated by ChatGPT in the instructor's handouts, even though students were officially prohibited from using AI.
According to The New York Times, while preparing for a class on “leadership models,” Stapleton found in her notes the command “expand on all areas. Be more detailed and specific.” She said, “If we can’t do it, why is it in the materials?” and appealed to the business school administration.
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted a course at Southern New Hampshire University where a professor posted a conversation with a chatbot in the comments of her essay and even asked for “really nice feedback.” “I felt like my work wasn’t really being evaluated—it was just being passed over by the AI,” she says.
After ChatGPT was introduced in 2022, US universities initially banned it from students. Now, educators are forced to learn for themselves how to integrate AI into the learning process while maintaining academic integrity and the human dimension of education.
Ohio University professor Paul Shovlin, an AI faculty fellow, admits: “I use ChatGPT for draft comments, but I always check the final text myself. Human feedback is our key value.” University of Virginia business professor Shingirai Kwaramba agrees: “AI saves me hours on case preparation, so I have time to work with students individually.”
According to a Tyton Partners survey, the proportion of faculty who actively use generative AI on a monthly basis has increased from 18% to 35%. Many universities have opened the role of “AI fellow” to educate colleagues on the ethical use of chatbots.
Stapleton says the double standard is unacceptable: “Students are risking their careers by using AI, and faculty are not.” But Northeastern’s administration defends its AI approach, stressing a new policy: “Any use of AI must be labeled and reviewed by a faculty member.”
Ukraine, by the way, has recently taken a significant step towards legislating the ethical use of AI. Representatives of the Ministry of Digital Affairs signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention in Strasbourg, which defines the rules for the use of AI in accordance with human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
