AI Litigation: Higher Education's New Risk Frontier
In our Winter Edition of HigherEdRisk, industry expert Lekshmy Sankar published an article on the importance of AI literacy. This topic is timely, as a few days ago, Yale University was named a defendant in the first lawsuit of its kind involving AI use, academic honesty, and potential bias in higher education.
In December 2024, I also posted an article summarizing one of the first lawsuits in education related to the use of AI in the K-12 space. In this case, a student's parents believed their son was unfairly punished by his high school for using generative artificial intelligence on an assignment.
AI detection and litigation
As expected, that lawsuit was only the beginning. Last week, a student sued Yale University, alleging that he "has been falsely accused of using artificial intelligence on a final exam." What is interesting is that Yale also used an AI detection program called "GPTZero" to flag the AI use. The plaintiff sued Yale University, its Board of Trustees, and individual defendants involved in the disciplinary process. (Doe v. Yale University, et al., 3:25-cv-00159-SFR (D. Conn.)
In a recent article from the law firm of Crowell & Moring LLP, the student complaint "details allegations that he was pressured to confess to cheating, faced irregularities in his disciplinary proceedings and appeals, and was ultimately suspended and given a failing grade without proper notice or opportunity to defend himself." The plaintiff claims that Yale's actions were "discriminatory, particularly against him as a non-native English speaker, and retaliatory after he complained about the discrimination."
What can be done?
This case illuminates the importance of well-written AI governance policies and the responsible implementation of AI tools. Regardless of how this lawsuit ends up, AI technology tools must be vetted for any potential inherent bias that can affect student success. As institutions increasingly adopt and rely on AI technologies, it is important that higher education leaders evaluate legal risks and carefully select AI detection methods.
This lawsuit underscores this point, and the articles written by Leksmy Sankar and Crowell & Moring LLP further recommend the following measures to mitigate risk:
Invest and promote AI literacy
Craft well-written and transparent AI policies
Implement practical and regular training on the use of AI
Conduct compliance monitoring
Bottom line: As Lekshmy Sankar states in her article - "The future of higher education depends not just on implementing AI technologies but also on ensuring stakeholders across the institution can understand, evaluate, and ethically deploy these powerful tools."
By adopting a comprehensive AI risk management program, schools can proactively mitigate legal risk, foster academic integrity, avoid making headlines, and build a culture of AI literacy that enhances learning outcomes and reduces bias.
