Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are rapidly advancing, providing a wide array of benefits for users. AI tools are growing in popularity among colleges and universities, both for students and professors. Among these technologies are AI-based writing assistants, including platforms such as ChatGPT, Essaybot, and Hemingway Editor. These tools can do everything from producing original content to editing and refining what you've written. While these AI capabilities offer huge assistance to students, they can also get you into trouble if you don't use them ethically and according to your school's policies.
The rise in students' use of AI-based writing assistants has led to a spate of suspicions and accusations of cheating, whether for allowing AI to write your assignments or for plagiarizing portions of content AI has produced. Schools and professors are becoming increasingly focused on ensuring that students are producing original work, leading to more and more college and university students facing accusations of cheating for using tools, including Hemingway Editor.
If your school has accused you of cheating for using Hemingway Editor or other AI writing assistants, your academic future may be in jeopardy. The Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. We can defend you against accusations of cheating and help keep your academic career on track. Contact us at 888-535-3686 or via our online form to learn more.
What is Hemingway Editor, and Is Using It Cheating?
Hemingway Editor is an AI-based writing assistant. It doesn't create content for you, but it acts like an editor, improving your grammar, sentence structure, clarity, and overall writing style. Once you enter the text you've written, it identifies passive voice, sentences that don't read well, and words that you can replace with better language.
Using Hemingway Editor isn't necessarily cheating on your assignments. Its purpose is to help you refine what you've written. However, as with other AI-based writing tools, you still need to be careful to avoid plagiarism.
Colleges and universities all have their own policies and guidelines that regulate the use of AI for writing assignments, and that guidance is likely constantly evolving as AI technologies continue to improve. It's a good idea to check your school's website for the latest guidelines—or even ask your professors if you're unsure.
In general, the key to ethically using AI-based writing tools is to create your own content rather than copy or even paraphrase AI-generated text. You can use Hemingway Editor to help clean up what you've written, but make sure the writing is your own. If you incorporate the suggestions it offers, make sure you understand why Hemingway Editor is suggesting those specific changes so that you're using them correctly. If your assignment requires you to cite any sources you've used, always attribute any AI-generated content to the tool that created it for you.
Will Your Professors Know If You've Used Hemingway Editor?
As more and more students use Hemingway Editor and other AI-based writing tools, college and university professors are becoming increasingly suspicious of cheating and doing all they can to identify plagiarism or other violations. But how can they tell if you've used AI in your assignments?
The growth of AI technologies has generated huge benefits for students in improving their writing, but on the flip side, advances in AI are also enabling professors to detect plagiarism more easily. Professors regularly use plagiarism detection software to identify instances of plagiarism in student essays and other writing assignments. While Hemingway Editor won't write your essays for you, if you copy and paste its edits, plagiarism detection software may identify specific phrases from commonly used online sources.
Your professors have also likely grown accustomed to your writing style and the kind of vocabulary you commonly use. If you incorporate Hemingway Editor's suggested edits by simply copying and pasting or replacing words, your professors may notice changes in your writing style that raise their suspicions.
Additionally, as professors become increasingly sensitive to students' use of AI writing tools, they're likely developing a keen intuition when something just feels a bit wrong or inauthentic. Even subtle plagiarism or cheating can raise red flags if a professor senses something doesn't sound quite right.
What Happens If You Face Accusations of Cheating?
Different colleges and universities have different disciplinary policies and procedures to deal with cheating, but the consequences will always be serious. In general, if a professor suspects you of cheating, they'll report it to the department chair or other disciplinary officer, who will then notify you of the accusation, investigate the claims, and collect any evidence the professor can provide.
In some cases, especially if you're facing accusations of multiple incidents of cheating, the school may forward the case to a student conduct review board or committee. In these cases, a hearing will often take place, and you and your professor will have the chance to present your sides, including any evidence to support the claims.
If the disciplinary officer or committee determines that you've cheated, they can impose a range of penalties. These can include academic penalties, such as failing the assignment or the entire course. For multiple offenses, you may also be subject to more severe disciplinary action, such as academic probation or even suspension or expulsion from school. Regardless of the severity of the penalties, they can have a lasting effect on your academic career.
What Should You Do If Your School Has Accused You of Cheating?
If your school notifies you that a professor has accused you of cheating, your immediate reaction may be to deny the accusations and insist you've done all the work yourself. While that may be true, simply saying so won't solve your problem. You'll still have to go through the disciplinary process and provide evidence to defend your claims of innocence.
Facing accusations of cheating can be extremely stressful and scary, with serious consequences, and you need a legal team on your side that can help you through the process. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team knows how to navigate college and university disciplinary actions. We can help you gather the best evidence to defend yourself, communicate with the school's disciplinary officers on your behalf, negotiate for leniency, and provide the best defense to protect your academic future. Call us at 888-535-3686 or use our confidential online contact form to get started.
