Murdoch University student fights accusation of illegal AI use in assignment
In April, he was told a workbook he handed in had raised concerns.
Excerpt from an email sent to Mr McLauchlin on April 3, 2025:
"Data collected from sources such as Turnitin, in conjunction with academic insights from our experienced marking team, have led to the submission being deemed high risk for academic misconduct. These concerns relate to the potential use of artificial intelligence in the generation of your work, plagiarism, and/or collusion."
A few days later, he was told an analysis of his work showed low editing time, evidence of chunks of text being cut and pasted into the document, and unusual formatting.
Mr McLauchlin insists he has not cheated and the reason his assignment metadata shows evidence of "chunks of text being cut and paste" is because he used a grammar checking software, Grammarly, approved by the university.
"I've been open and honest, right from the very first accusation, however the AI component of Grammarly was turned off," he said.
"The tool is widely advertised and encouraged by the university for students to use to help them with their studies."
The university conducted its own investigation and concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr McLauchlin had used AI for part of his assignment.
It also noted he had successfully completed nine units of his course and had no record of previous misconduct.
It decided Mr McLauchlin would receive only 70 per cent of the marks allocated to his workbook.
He said while he had enough marks from other assignments to pass the unit — even with the reduced mark from the workbook — and was on track to complete the degree this year, he was not willing to let the matter go.
"I guess my overall issue is that, still to date, Murdoch can't give me a word, sentence, paragraph, phrase or a pattern of AI [in my assignment]," Mr McLauchlin said.
"I haven't used AI in the way that they believe that I've used AI.
In a written statement, Murdoch University said it could not comment on Mr McLauchlin's case for privacy reasons, but all students were "required to complete an academic integrity module that includes instruction on the appropriate and inappropriate use of AI".
"Where the use of generative AI in assessments is indicated, the university takes a considered and educative approach under established academic integrity processes," the statement read.
"Our first priority is to support students in understanding appropriate academic practices.
"Where concerns arise, our processes are designed to be fair, transparent and proportionate, with education and engagement prioritised before any punitive measures are considered."
The issue of AI detection is playing out on campuses around Australia, as universities and students grapple with the widespread availability of generative AI programs like ChatGPT.
Students are also increasingly worried about accusations, with some students choosing to run their assignments through checkers before handing them in, to make sure programs that check for plagiarism, like Turnitin, do not falsely accuse them of not doing original work.
One student told ABC Radio Perth she and her peers were now taking pre-emptive action against accusations of cheating.
Dale, a recently retired TAFE teacher, said the practice of using AI to complete assignments was widespread.
"I found students used AI to write assignments, but actually had little knowledge of the subject," he said.
"The machine has done the work, [the] student has no inherent knowledge."
Mr McLauchlin said his latest appeal of the university's decision had failed, and he was now seeking legal advice on where he could go from here.
He said it was not just about clearing his name, but about making a point to the university about its processes, which he said were impersonal and had not allowed him to fully make his case.
"That's the other reason why I'm kind of really going for this … I really believe that they're not 100 per cent informed of the impact of what they do, and how that can have [an affect] on people," he said.
Murdoch University said it welcomed "appeals and constructive feedback on our administrative processes" and was "committed to continuous improvement".
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