It’s no secret that many students are using the power of generative Artificial Intelligence for academic purposes. A 2024 survey by the Digital Education Council on global use of AI found that 86% of students have used AI in their studies, with 54% using it on a weekly basis.
Some instructors may encourage using AI for menial tasks or brainstorming purposes, but schools are becoming increasingly wary of the technology's usage as a cheating device.
At Western Washington University, during the 2023-24 academic year, 41 out of a total 116 academic integrity violations involved unauthorized usage of AI, said Melinda Assink, the Vice President of Academic Affairs. The number of AI violations is more than double the 18 unauthorized usages seen in the 2022-23 academic year.
But when accusing students of using AI dishonesty, the university doesn’t always get it right. Western student Annika Nelson has twice been falsely accused of using AI to write assignments for her. In one instance, her professor approached her at the end of her communications theory class claiming she used AI on a 300-word assignment.
“I was initially surprised and nervous, however I was not very shocked,” Nelson said
In the past Nelson has been told her writing sounds too “clinical,” which she said is a direct result of her autism spectrum disorder. Her professor, who was using AI detection software to screen assignments for cheating, had Nelson come to her office hours and re-do the assignment in front of her.
“Since [the redone assignment] also had a very similar structure and style, she realized she was incorrect in her assumption and apologized and gave me full credit for the assignment,” Nelson said.
Last year, Western had access to the plagiarism software Turnitin’s free AI detector to evaluate AI usage in assignments. Now, AI detection usage varies from professor to professor, Assink said.
“Turnitin took that free [AI detection] option off and it’s an additional cost, so now Western doesn’t have a campus-wide detection software,” Assink said. “But from what I’m seeing from violations, a lot of faculty are using their own accounts or checking in different free software.”
In May 2024, a PubMed study examined the accuracy of 10 different free AI detectors and concluded that their predictive value is highly variable and not always accurate.
Western student's can begin an appeal process with the university if their written work is detected as AI, which can include meeting with their professor or a department chair. Western’s academic honesty website details the steps students should take if they want to appeal a violation, beginning with filling out an appeal form.
Tricia Bertram Gallant is the Academic Integrity Coordinator at University of California San Diego and an author of several books concerning academic integrity.
“[If suspected of using AI,] students can document their processes by writing in Google Docs so their version history can be shared,” Bertram Gallant said. “They can narrate the process that they used to get the final product … being able to do this is going to become more and more central to the human experience in the age of AI.”
Bertram Gallant believes this narration and discussion between student and instructor is much better than simply using AI detection software.
“Not only is it revealing, but it is relational and it helps enhance students' metacognition and understanding of why they do what they do and when it might be helpful versus not helpful,” Bertram Gallant said.
Nelson was accused a second time of using AI by her Latin American studies professor. After having one of these discussions, she was again given full credit.
“I used information that had not been introduced in class [for the paper], but it was something that I learned in a previous course … So I went through the notes I had taken from the course and showed him the notes that reflected that piece of information,” Nelson said.
In response to these two accusations, Nelson said she’s taking active steps to make her writing sound more casual and less structured.
“I now have a habit of placing footnotes in my writing where pieces of information I learned outside the course came from and citing the source that confirms that information, as a way of avoiding any accusations in the future,” Nelson said.
Sean Lynch (he/him) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a third-year visual journalism major. Outside of reporting, Sean likes skateboarding, reading and playing kendama. You can reach him at seanlynch.thefront@gmail.com.
