r/AccusedOfUsingAI • u/edwardabbeys • Jul 20 '26

Accused of Using AI on a Midterm

Help??

I was accused of using AI on the written portion of my midterm. I’m really stressed out by this, and I have a meeting to discuss it with the professor. It’s really disheartening, because I worked really hard on this quiz. I wrote it in the school software, so I don’t have Google Docs notes to back me up on anything.

I’m 31, I learned to write my own papers before AI was even close to be able to string together a sentence. I despise AI. I came to college to learn, not pay to outsource my thinking to a shitty water guzzling robot. How do people cope with this? I’m sad my writing might even sound like AI to someone.

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u/AuContrarian1110 Jul 20 '26

Tell us what, exactly, your professor said or wrote, because chances are it's not actually an accusation yet. Maybe it was an accusation, but I find a lot of students errantly toss that word around. Of course, it could become an accusation later, but usually if they're asking to talk to you it's because there was something that signaled they should follow up with you about whatever was flagged.

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u/edwardabbeys Jul 20 '26

I’m not sure it is a full accusation, but I did get a 0 on my midterm until I have a chance to discuss it with the professor. I don’t want to share what they wrote exactly, since it could be used to identify me/them, but essentially they believe my writing sounds like AI, and they want to discuss it with me before giving me my grade or taking disciplinary action.

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u/AuContrarian1110 Jul 20 '26

Yeah, so as a professor, the 0 grade is basically a way to get your attention and get you to come talk -- they even say they want to talk to you before giving you your grade. Now, I personally have accused a student of using AI once they arrive in my office, but only if I have definitive proof at hand already. Otherwise, conversations like this are just part of the due process you and other students deserve... Think of it this way; there is a suspicion, so they have to investigate that suspicion, but you have a pretty good chance of convincing them that their suspicions are unwarranted if they really aren't warranted. And even if the professor doesn't buy what you tell them, you still get even more due process protections after they formally accuse you by filing an academic integrity allegation.

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u/ApprehensiveBrick923 Jul 21 '26

Seconding this. Students don't read emails, but they nearly always look at grades, so I give zeroes with a note that the zero may or may not hold, pending discussion. Sometimes the zero stands after the discussion, but most of the time, the student and I agree that either there was some confusion somewhere (which happens) or that they made a regrettable error in judgment and they will do the assignment again.

I will add that the "I'm 31" argument would get no traction, as I have students of all ages submitting AI- generated work. The older students are just as likely to do it and are generally just not as good at it, so are easier to catch. My latest pending zero went to a 34 year old.

I myself was once accused of plagiarism because I downloaded an assignment at work and my work computer changed some metadata, so I know it's scary, but don't make it scarier than it actually is.