12/30/2025
Update: Am I overreacting, grad school professor accused me of using AI to write my final report
Thank you all so much for your support, kind words, and suggestions. I tried to upvote or respond to as many comments as possible. You really helped put my anxiety at ease last night and I'm glad I found the courage to say something! It was also interesting to hear other teachers'/professors' opinions on this matter. Here is the rather anti-climatic email response from my professor, which many of you have asked for!
(and despite what her email says, no, my final grade in the course is not yet posted so I don't know if she adjusted my paper's grade or not...)
A couple of things I should've addressed in my original post but didn't because I was too overwhelmed with anxiety/frustration at the time:
This professor is kind and intelligent. She was never out to get me and she was (mostly) a pleasure during the semester. I did well in her class due to my participation/attendance/assignments so I'm not worried about my overall grade. I sent that email in my previous post purely on principle, because I don't think it's fair for a student's hard work to be diminished/disregarded with baseless accusations. I am frustrated with her for using an unreliable detection tool, but I also have sympathy. I can't imagine how challenging it is to distinguish authentic work from AI-generated work as a professor these days. Until better detection tools are developed, she's working with what she's got -- for better or for worse.
Regardless, I wholeheartedly agree that if a professor suspects a student is using AI, they shouldn't have a lukewarm response like this (i.e. deducting petty points). That is a serious issue and warrants either an immediate zero on the assignment/exam or escalation for academic dishonesty, especially in the sciences. You gotta shut that s**t down before it can gain momentum, you know? Based on what many of you have said, AI can be useful up to a certain point. I think society at large is still learning what that "point" is.
With that being said, I'm still on the fence about whether I need to push this issue far enough to involve department heads, deans, etc. A LOT of you started picking up your pitchforks and torches on my behalf, and although I sincerely appreciate the outrage/disbelief, I don't feel the need to sue the university over this. If I was facing expulsion, suspension, or permanent record damages, then absolutely. But for a course that I'll still have a B+/A in at the end of the day? Not so much. I'm glad I wrote an email instead of calling for a meeting, as I now have a paper trail in case anything does come from this. I do understand that this is an issue that reaches beyond my current situation, but I also have reason to believe that if I *do* try to escalate things, they'll just wave me off and return the deducted points without argument because the stakes are not high enough in this particular scenario.
Last but not least, I'm flattered by those of you who still think I used AI in both my essay AND my email. Lol. It's not perfect, but I'm not afraid to take pride in my writing skills/style, as I've been doing creative and scientific/technical writing for as long as I can remember. It's my main hobby and my biggest escape from reality -- the confidence that I lack in face-to-face communication is saved by my strengths in written communication! But yeah, it would've been really funny if I did use AI in my email (and even funnier if she called me out on it) lol
Thank you all once again for your support and advice; you made me feel like less of an as***le! Some of you honestly made me tear up from your kindness. If you're a student/teacher, best of luck with the end of the semester! And please, for the love of god, do not use AI for assignments or grading :)