Haishan Yang, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, was expelled in the previous year due to allegations of utilizing artificial intelligence tools to complete his essays. Yang denies these allegations, claiming that his professors are involved in a conspiracy against him, as reported by the local Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE11. Subsequently, Yang is taking legal action against the university regarding its decision, which resulted in the loss of his student visa.
The central issue in this case revolves around a preliminary exam that Yang completed remotely in Morocco during the summer of 2024. The exam required Yang to complete three essays within an eight-hour time frame, using only his notes, reports, and books, without the assistance of AI. Yang claims to have written his answers manually, but his educators disagree with this assertion.
A panel of four professors reviewed Yang’s responses and observed that his essay answers included complex concepts not covered in class, as well as acronyms that are not commonly used in the field but frequently appear in answers generated by ChatGPT. Furthermore, the professors noted that the formatting and content of Yang’s essays were remarkably similar to those produced by ChatGPT when given the same essay questions as prompts. Yang argues that the similarity in responses can be attributed to ChatGPT drawing from the same material he was using, and he also suggests that the professors may have edited the ChatGPT responses to make them resemble his answers more closely.
Both Yang and the professors acknowledge that there are crucial contextual factors beyond the essay responses that contribute to the ruling.
Yang claims that the professors have been targeting him, a notion supported by his advisor, who stated to the review panel, “I have never seen this level of animosity directed towards a student.” According to Yang, the university terminated his financial support due to alleged poor performance and disparaging behavior during his time as a research assistant, and he was advised by the graduate director to quit. However, Yang appealed this decision and was successful in having his funding reinstated, along with receiving an apology from the university.
On the other hand, the professors point out that this was not the first instance of Yang being accused of using AI to complete his work. In a previous incident, Yang submitted a homework assignment containing text that read “re write it (sic), make it more casual, like a foreign student write but no ai.” Yang explained that he used AI to check his English but not to generate answers, and he received a warning without further punishment.
After losing his case in front of the university’s panel, Yang is now pursuing the matter in court. In January, Yang filed state and federal lawsuits against his professor and the University of Minnesota, alleging manipulation of evidence and lack of due process. As reported by KARE11, Yang admitted to using ChatGPT to draft the lawsuit filings.
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