Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Parents sue after son is penalized for using AI on his research project
The parents of a Hingham High School senior say AI was not prohibited when their son used the technology to outline and research a school project.
The parents of a Hingham High School senior are suing their son’s teacher and several school officials in federal court, alleging the student was wrongly punished for using artificial intelligence on a research project last year.
In a lawsuit first filed in Plymouth Superior Court, Dale and Jennifer Harris claim the school’s disciplinary action marred their son’s academic record and harmed his college prospects. The lawsuit names Hingham’s acting and former superintendents, high school leadership, the town’s School Committee, and a social studies teacher who assigned the project in question.
Advertisement:
“Artificial Intelligence is here to stay,” the Harrises assert in their complaint, later adding: “While artificial intelligence is a new technology and it is still emerging, it is widely accepted.”
The background
According to the lawsuit, the Harrises’ son teamed up with a classmate last fall on a social studies project for a long-running contest known as “National History Day.” The students used AI to prepare the initial outline and research for their project on NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s civil rights activism, the complaint states.
Related:
The Harrises allege that when the project was assigned, their son’s teacher did not prohibit the use of AI during the preparation or research phase, nor did Hingham’s student handbook categorize use of the technology as cheating. (This year’s updated handbook explicitly cites AI under a section on cheating and plagiarism.)
Advertisement:
The students didn’t make it past the initial portion of the project before their teacher accused them of using AI and “thus cheating on the assignment,” the lawsuit states. School officials ultimately allowed the students to turn in new projects separately, without the use of AI, and the Harrises’ son earned a D letter grade. Both students were also forced to attend a Saturday detention.
The Harrises’ son received a zero on the notes and rough draft portions of the project, bringing his grade for the quarter down to a 63 — significantly lower than the 84 he scored the other three terms, according to the lawsuit.
Now, the teenager is “competing with the highest level of applicants to admissions to elite colleges and universities,” the complaint states. The lawsuit alleges the disciplinary action is “derailing and jeopardizing” the student’s chances in the admissions process, with a “significant, severe and continuing impact” on his college prospects and future earning potential.
The Harrises are asking the federal court to order school officials to raise their son’s year-end grade from a C to a B, expunge any record of the discipline from his transcript, and undergo training in the use and implementation of AI in the classroom, among other requests.
What the school says
While the lawsuit claims the students included citations in their written work, school officials allege the Harrises’ son did not cite his use of AI. In a memorandum accompanying their motion to dismiss, school officials also said the teen indicated he pasted sections from Grammarly, an AI writing helper, into a Google document as he worked on the project.
Advertisement:
The Harrises’ son “unequivocally used another author’s language and thoughts, be it a digital and artificial author, without express permission to do so,” the memorandum alleges.
A spokesperson for the district did not respond to a request for comment, and a lawyer for the school officials declined to discuss the lawsuit’s allegations, citing student privacy.
But according to the defendants’ memorandum, the Harrises’ son received a copy of the school’s policy on academic dishonesty and AI expectations, also sitting through a presentation on the policy last fall as part of his English class. The memorandum includes a copy of the policy, which states that students “shall not use AI tools during in-class examinations, processed writing assignments, homework or classwork unless explicitly permitted and instructed.”
School officials must stand by the “just and legitimate” punishment doled out to the Harrises’ son, the memorandum contends. “Otherwise, they invite dissatisfied parents and students to challenge day-to-day discipline, even grading of students, in state and federal courts.”
A hearing on the Harrises’ motion for preliminary injunction is slated for Oct. 22.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com