A student at Northeastern University in the U.S. requested a refund of her tuition after discovering that her professor had been using ChatGPT to prepare his lessons.
The case occurred in February, when Ella Stapleton, who was in her final semester of college, was extremely disappointed while reviewing some slides from her organizational behavior course and realized her professor had used AI.
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The student found a question the professor had asked the chatbot to “further explain leadership models.” Wondering if it was just an isolated incident, she found more signs of AI usage in previous lessons, including spelling mistakes, distorted text, and flawed images.
Because of this, she decided to request a refund for the tuition she paid for the class, since she was paying a significant amount to receive a quality education at a prestigious university. For that course alone, she was paying $8,000 per month.
She pointed out that the same professor had strict rules regarding “academic dishonesty” by students, including the use of artificial intelligence. However, shortly after graduating, Ella was informed that she would not be reimbursed.
Speaking to The New York Times, Rick Arrowood, Ella’s professor, said he had uploaded the content of his classes into AI tools like ChatGPT to “give them a new approach.” While he explained that he reviewed the texts and thought they looked fine, he admitted he “should have looked more closely.”
Arrowood also said he didn’t use the slides in the classroom because he prefers open discussions among students, but he chose to make the material available for them to study.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Northeastern University stated that the university “embraces the use of artificial intelligence to enhance all aspects of its teaching, research, and operations.”
Several U.S. universities are adopting similar positions, arguing that the use of AI tools is seen as useful and important by faculty. But not all students are convinced.
On websites like Rate My Professors, a platform for evaluating instructors, complaints about professors using AI are also on the rise. Most students complain about the hypocrisy of teachers who ban them from using AI tools while using them themselves.
Furthermore, many question the point of paying thousands of dollars for an academic education they could get for free with ChatGPT. The topic remains under debate, but most students and faculty agree that the main issue is the lack of transparency.
Photo and video: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
