Professor Fails Most of His Students After ChatGPT Falsely Claimed Assignments were AI-generated.

Texas A&M commerce professor fails the entire class of seniors, blocking them from graduating- claiming they all use “Chat GTP,” a Reddit post published by one of the students’ partner in that class.

Dr. Jared Mumm, a Texas A&M University instructor who teaches agricultural classes, reportedly sent students an email informing large parts of his class they would be getting a zero on recent assignments because he tested their writing with “Chat GTP”(actually, it is ChatGPT) and the ChatGPT falsely claimed to have written them.

“I have opened my own account for Chat GTP. I copy and paste your responses in this account, and Chat GTP will tell me if the program generated the content,” Dr. Mumm wrote, according to the Reddit post posted by a partner of a student in his class. Mumm’s email was shared on Reddit by a user with the handle DearKick, who identified himself as the fiancé of one of the students to receive a failing grade for submitting AI-generated essays supposedly. Dr. Mumm’s email further states, “Everyone would be receiving an “X” in the course, Mumm explained because he had used “Chat GTP” to test whether they’d used the software to write the papers — and the bot claimed to have authored every single one. 

When confronted with evidence from students that they had written their own papers, the instructor reportedly said, “I don’t grade AI bulls***.”

Actually, ChatGPT doesn’t work that way. The AI bot isn’t made to detect material composed by ChatGPT and is known to produce misinformation. OpenAI, as well as outside observers, have noted that ChatGPT isn’t entirely reliable at detecting when a text is written by AI. With little encouragement, the program can also make false claims, going so far as to fabricate primary sources.

After the Reddit post went viral, Texas A&M University-Commerce said they were investigating the incident and developing AI-related policies in the classroom. The university denied that anyone had received a failing grade. “A&M-Commerce confirms that no students failed the class or were barred from graduating because of this issue,” the school noted. 

“A&M-Commerce confirms that no students failed the class or were barred from graduating because of this issue. Dr. Jared Mumm, the class professor, is working individually with students regarding their last written assignments,” the school further added. “University officials are investigating the incident and developing policies to address the use or misuse of AI technology in the classroom,” the statement continued. “They are also working to adopt AI detection tools and other resources to manage the intersection of AI technology and higher education. The use of AI in coursework is a rapidly changing issue that confronts all learning institutions.”

Powerful AI tools like ChatGPT have sparked heated debates about academic freedom, plagiarism, and fairness in academic circles. AI (and ChatGPT) can generate questions, tests, exams, or assessments. ChatGPT has passed a business school exam, several law school exams, and even the United States Medical Licensure Exam.

Some institutions, like the New York City public school system, have proactively banned such tools.

Others argue that AI can be viewed as another electronic aide in the classroom, like a digital academic database, google, Wikipedia, or a calculator. 

What do you think? Share your thoughts.