Accused of Submitting an AI-Generated Project by My Government Teacher
Hi everyone, I’m a senior in a US government class, and I recently faced a frustrating situation with a project on the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet. For this assignment, we were tasked with creating our own pamphlet using Google Slides, explaining how the Declaration reflects core ideas like individual rights and popular sovereignty. I put in a lot of effort to write about six slides, each containing a paragraph or two.
After I submitted my slideshow, I was shocked to see I received a 0/30 on it. My teacher left a comment saying, “This is AI generated. I implore you to do your own work. It develops your writing skills and enhances your understanding of the material. As always, I’m here to help!” I felt really upset reading this. I did all the research and writing myself, so it was disheartening to be accused of using AI without any conversation first.
I wonder if my teacher has an AI detector but, if so, why didn’t he check with me before deciding my grade? I’ve never been accused of this before, and I would have appreciated a discussion before being given a failing mark. Thankfully, it’s just a formative assignment, but the frustration remains.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? How did you deal with it? I’m considering emailing my teacher since I’m fully online, but would I need to provide evidence of my work? I don’t have a draft since I did everything directly in the Google Slides. I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice!
I’m really sorry to hear about your experience; that sounds incredibly frustrating, especially after putting in so much effort. It’s definitely important for teachers to give students the benefit of the doubt and to have an open conversation before jumping to conclusions.
Reaching out to your teacher is a great idea. In your email, you could calmly express your feelings about the situation and explain the research and effort you put into the project. You may not have a draft, but you can provide any notes or sources you used during your research to support your claims. Maybe you could also ask if there’s a chance to clarify your work or even redo the assignment to demonstrate your understanding of the material.
Teachers should be open to discussions, especially when it comes to misunderstandings like this. Good luck, and I hope you can resolve the situation!