Students turn to lawyers to fight AI misconduct accusations

{"text":[[{"start":8.3,"text":"When Alice submitted an essay for her final year of university in May, she recognised that it “wasn’t the best thing” she’d ever written. "}],[{"start":16.05,"text":"But she was surprised to receive an email from her Russell Group university accusing her of having used AI to write the coursework. "}],[{"start":24.55,"text":"Alice — not her real name — described the experience as an “emotionally intense” ending to her music degree. Despite sharing her notes and early drafts of the essay with university administrators, she was told she would be questioned by a faculty misconduct panel. "}],[{"start":38.85,"text":"Panicked that she would not complete her degree and waste tens of thousands of pounds in tuition fees, Alice turned to her university’s student services for support, which said they were too busy. "}],[{"start":49.400000000000006,"text":"Instead, she sought legal advice — a move that has become increasingly common among students accused of AI misconduct as universities crack down on the abuse of the technology."}],[{"start":60.650000000000006,"text":"With the help of her lawyer, who charged more than £3,000, Alice had the cheating allegations against her dismissed. "}],[{"start":68.30000000000001,"text":"Louise O’Driscoll, a solicitor specialising in education law who represented Alice, told the FT there had been a “notable increase” in similar cases this year."}],[{"start":77.80000000000001,"text":"However, she acknowledged that AI misconduct still “goes on a lot more than it probably comes to light”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":85.10000000000001,"text":"Daniel Sokol, a barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk, described a “tsunami” of student enquiries from those facing accusations of AI misconduct."}],[{"start":95.10000000000001,"text":"He said his firm had received 300 requests related to the unauthorised use of artificial intelligence at universities in the first half of this year, roughly 40 per cent of total business enquiries."}],[{"start":108.00000000000001,"text":"The higher education sector is struggling with how to approach AI. Many universities are caught between wanting to prepare students for the workforce by encouraging AI use and having to police its widespread use in assessments. "}],[{"start":120.25000000000001,"text":"The total number of students using AI in graded work is difficult to establish. However, a 2024 survey of more than 95,000 students at 20 public research universities in the US — led by Igor Chirikov at the University of California, Berkeley — found that about 9 per cent admitted to using AI to cheat."}],[{"start":141.5,"text":"“These are [accusations] that could haunt students for a long time after they’ve qualified,” Sokol said, noting many of his clients were students studying medicine and law. “You get innocent students being found guilty. Those are the biggest tragedies.”"}],[{"start":157.4,"text":"Fighting a typical accusation of misusing AI at an internal misconduct panel will cost students between £2,000 and £3,000, Sokol said, although seeking testimony from forensic linguists or other experts can stretch the bills higher. "}],[{"start":172.95000000000002,"text":"When it comes to their legal defence, education lawyers like Sokol and O’Driscoll have focused on ambiguities in universities’ policies on AI usage. "}],[{"start":182.10000000000002,"text":"While many policies cover entire institutions, individual departments or lecturers may deviate in where they draw the line on misconduct, with some students unclear about what would constitute cheating."}],[{"start":193.8,"text":"For lecturers, the proliferation of AI-generated coursework has led to frustration."}],[{"start":199.15,"text":"Universities UK, the industry group representing higher education institutions, said that “both staff and students within the sector are alive to the potential risks posed by AI tools, particularly when it comes to exams and assessment”. "}],[{"start":213.1,"text":"“Students must learn to use it honestly and well,” the group added."}],[{"start":217.7,"text":"Some universities have responded by simply softening the threshold of what constitutes AI misconduct. The University of Bath and Queen Mary University London have both published guidance using the term “poor academic practice” to distinguish certain forms of AI use."}],[{"start":236.29999999999998,"text":"Ciaran Donaghy, lead policy officer at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, an independent body that works to improve standards in the sector, noted that a “lack of clarity” over how universities police AI was “fuelling anxiety” for students."}],[{"start":252.99999999999997,"text":"Donaghy noted that international students who speak English as a second language were at higher risk of being falsely accused. A 2024 study by a group of Stanford University academics found AI detectors disproportionately flagged writing by non-native speakers. "}],[{"start":268.95,"text":"AI misconduct cases have also started to escalate from internal disciplinary cases to formal legal action. Sokol said he recently settled a case related to AI academic misconduct out of court with a university. "}],[{"start":282.65,"text":"In the US, several high-profile cases have emerged, including that of a history student who successfully sued Adelphi University in New York after being accused of using AI to help with an assignment. "}],[{"start":294.65,"text":"There are also concerns over the increasing reliance on AI-detection tools, which Sokol described as “flawed”. As the software has become integrated into universities’ digital submission systems, there have been more complaints of false positives. "}],[{"start":308.65,"text":"Despite her experience, Alice, the music student, said she felt that universities were “trying their best” to deal with genuine AI misconduct. "}],[{"start":316.7,"text":"And she offered a simple explanation for why she found herself accused. “I use AI day-to-day with emails and admin, kind of as a personal assistant,” she said. “If you’re at university right now, you’re going to pick up the language and the way that chatbots talk.” "}],[{"start":340.29999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791013743_8729.mp3"}