Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors recently exposed a widespread incident of students using artificial intelligence to cheat — not just on assignments, but to generate nearly identical apology emails when caught. Professors Karle Flanagan and Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider, who teach a popular introductory data science course, discovered the deception after receiving suspiciously similar emails from more than 100 students.
The class, which enrolls around 1,200 students, uses a digital attendance system called the Data Science Clicker. Students are expected to answer in-class questions via QR codes on their devices. Attendance and participation make up a small portion of the final grade, but the professors soon noticed a major red flag: dozens of students were logging responses remotely, despite being physically absent.
Digging into server logs and IP addresses, the professors confirmed that many students had coordinated to game the system — and then attempted to cover it up using AI-generated apology emails. On October 17, they revealed the deception in dramatic fashion by reading the emails aloud in a lecture hall, projecting them on a screen to audible laughter from the student audience. The uniformity of the messages made it clear they had been created by an AI tool.
Despite the evidence, the students will not face formal discipline. While the university’s student code addresses traditional cheating and plagiarism, it does not yet include explicit rules about AI-generated content. Since AI use wasn’t forbidden in the syllabus, there’s no grounds for punishment.
Many former students voiced frustration, saying the course’s accessible design and the professors’ enthusiasm make the dishonesty especially disappointing. The case underscores growing concerns in academia about AI misuse — and highlights the pressing need for updated codes of conduct that reflect the realities of emerging technology.
