BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – LSU students are facing a wave of artificial intelligence cheating allegations that has created a significant backlog at the university’s Student Advocacy and Accountability Board, according to documents obtained by WAFB and student accounts.
One LSU student, who asked to be identified only as Sarah, said she received a zero on an assignment after her professor determined it was “written by AI.”
“I went to check my grades and saw I had a zero. So I went and checked her grades, and my teacher completely erased all of that and said it was 93 percent written by the AI,” Sarah said.
Sarah said she and her friend weren’t the only students in the class to receive AI allegations.
“So I turn to the other people in my class, and they’re like, yeah, we got zeros. We don’t know what’s going on. We email her. She emails us back and says she reported us to SAA,” Sarah said.
Student faces scholarship pressure due to application delays
The Student Advocacy and Accountability Board oversees the review process for students facing allegations of cheating. Sarah said the board sent an automatic message after she contacted it.
“They sent back an automated message that they currently have cases backed up and that your case manager will contact you when they contact you,” Sarah said.
With scholarship money on the line, Sarah’s case wasn’t resolved until January. She said she was given the option to appeal or admit to using the AI.
“I said I was using AI because one of my scholarships needed my grades, and if I appealed that I wasn’t using AI, it would just prolong the process, and I really had to submit my grades to them,” Sarah said.
Sarah said her father wanted to dispute the allegation with a lawyer, but the family decided against it due to fears of losing scholarship funding.
“It wasn’t fair that my tuition was on the line,” Sarah said.
Documents reveal widespread student concerns
Dozens of students are facing similar situations, according to LSU public records. Documents obtained by WAFB show a significant caseload was being processed at LSU at the end of the first semester.
Student emails to SAA staff members show growing anxiety among students facing AI allegations. One student wrote: “My whole class is being blamed for using AI. People are crying and we’re being told it’s our fault.”
Another letter from a concerned parent described the situation as “quite distressing”.
The documents also show an LSU instructor seeking to clarify ethical implications related to the technology.
Professor questions reliability of AI detection
Professor Andrew Schwarz, who works in the department of entrepreneurship and information systems in LSU’s College of Business, said AI detection systems have limitations.
“An AI system cannot determine whether something that is generated is AI or not,” Schwarz said.
Schwarz said the rapid development of AI technology has also created challenges for professors.
“We’re also trying to understand it. Because if we look at the impact of AI on education, it also impacts our jobs and how we deliver content,” Schwarz said.
He said students experience anxiety over AI use policies.
“So what we’re seeing is a lot of anxiety. Students are anxious because they’re not really sure where should I use AI, where should I not use it?” » said Schwarz.
Sarah and other students said it can be difficult to prove they didn’t cheat when AI allegations come days or weeks after assignments were submitted.
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