In a striking display of academic irony, a Northeastern University student has demanded an $8,000 tuition refund after discovering her professor using ChatGPT—the very tool he had prohibited students from employing in their coursework.

The Discovery

Ella Stapleton, a senior at Northeastern University, was reviewing lecture notes for her organizational behavior class in February when she noticed something peculiar. Embedded in the document was the phrase “expand on all areas. Be more detailed and specific,” which appeared to be a prompt directed at OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This discovery prompted Stapleton to investigate further.

Upon examining other course materials, including slide presentations, Stapleton identified additional telltale signs of AI generation: photos of people with extra limbs and misspelled text—classic artifacts of AI-generated content.

What particularly irked Stapleton was the apparent double standard. Her professor, Rick Arrowood, had explicitly prohibited students from using AI in the course syllabus.

“He’s telling us not to use it and then he’s using it himself,” Stapleton told The New York Times.

The Confrontation

Alarmed by her findings, Stapleton escalated the matter to Northeastern’s business school through a formal complaint. Her request was clear and bold: a full refund of her tuition for the class, amounting to over $8,000.

Arrowood, an adjunct professor with more than fifteen years of teaching experience at various colleges, acknowledged to The New York Times that he had indeed used ChatGPT to “refine” his class files and documents. The incident has apparently caused him to approach AI more cautiously and to be transparent with students about his AI usage.

The University’s Response

Despite Stapleton’s persistence throughout her final semester, Northeastern University ultimately rejected her refund request. The decision came just one day after her graduation from the university this month, concluding a months-long dispute that shadowed the end of her academic journey.

A Growing Tension in Academia

This incident highlights a growing tension in educational institutions as AI tools become increasingly sophisticated and accessible. Many educators interviewed by The New York Times did not view their use of AI as particularly problematic.

Paul Shovlin, an English instructor and AI fellow at Ohio University, defended professors who incorporate AI into their teaching methods. “There is no universal strategy for integrating emerging technology into the classroom,” Shovlin argued, describing as “absurd” the portrayal of AI-using professors as “some kind of monster.”

Broader Implications

The controversy at Northeastern University raises fundamental questions about academic integrity, consistency in policy enforcement, and the evolving relationship between education and artificial intelligence.

For students like Stapleton, the issue extends beyond mere technological adoption—it touches on principles of fairness and the value proposition of higher education. When students are held to standards that faculty themselves don’t observe, it naturally leads to questions about the worth of their substantial tuition investments.

For educators and institutions, the incident serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of transparent policies around AI use and the need for consistent application of those policies across all members of the academic community.

As AI continues to transform education, cases like Stapleton’s will likely become more common, challenging universities to develop clearer guidelines about the appropriate use of these powerful tools by both students and faculty alike.