HINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Hingham High School student testified in federal court Tuesday in his family’s artificial intelligence lawsuit against the school district.
The 17-year-old student was penalized for using AI technology on a history project last year.
He took the stand before a federal judge in Boston, saying that while his English teacher told students not to use AI in English class, he did not receive similar instructions about using the emerging technology in his history studies.
The student’s history teacher testified that she used software that detects if students are using AI or plagiarizing. She said she was able to determine that most of the students spent seven to eight hours on the project, but that this student spent only 52 minutes on it.
“A lot has been said about this case and will be said about this case one way or another,” said Peter Farrell, the family’s lawyer.
When the student used AI on his project, the Hingham School District did not address AI specifically in its student handbook.
However, the history teacher told the judge that the student did not cite AI as his source, and that “using words and thoughts of others and not attributing them is plagiarism.”
As a result the school district decided the student cheated. He was punished in the grading process, got a detention, and was not admitted to the National Honor Society.
Now, his parents are suing to get those consequences reversed.
“We’re going to let the court do the important work that they do and assess the witness testimony today in court,” Farrell said.
The 17-year-old has since been admitted to the National Honor Society. The judge is expected to make a written ruling on this case in the coming days.
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