“I paid to learn from experts, not from robots,” the student said in her formal complaint
Would you pay $ 45,000 to attend classes that were prepared by artificial intelligence deep down? This is exactly what motivated the Ella Stapleton revolt, a student of the last year of the Northeastern University business course in Boston (USA), who asked for the monthly fee after discovering that his teacher used ChatgPT to elaborate teaching materials – not to mention anything to students.
The situation raises an issue that has gained strength in the universities corridors: If unauthorized use of AI by students is rigorously punished, why does not apply to teachers?
Student asks money back after finding out what teacher was doing in class
Ella began to suspect when noting in slides and handouts. Frequent errors, generic phrases and even images with those typical artificial intelligence distortions. The icing on the cake? A direct link to ChatgPT in the bibliography of one of the classes.
The student went back, investigated and found that Professor Rick Arrowood not only used AI tools to prepare presentations and comments, but also publicly admitted that he did it without warning anyone.
In his defense, Arrowood said he recognizes the need for more transparency and believes the episode can be alert to other teachers.
Outraged, Ella required the reimbursement of more than $ 8,000 (about $ 45,000). “I paid to learn from experts, not from robots,” the student said in her formal complaint.
The university answered. In a statement, he recognized the use of AI by the teacher, but said it encourages the responsible use of these tools in teaching – provided that there is clear attribution and human review. And despite the recognition, it rejected the reimbursement request.
The case has viralized and rekindled the debate: Is AI really replacing the teacher, or can it be an ally in modern teaching? What’s more, who is educating?
For now, Ella continues with the diploma (almost) in hand – but the account, who paid, was her.
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