This story is full of twists and turns, and what I think is most important is how generative AI creates a new environment.

I think students using generative AI to cheat is super dumb. I also think that using AI detectors is super problematic. Independent of what did or did not happen here, I’m struck by the way that the mere existence of these kinds of technologies creates a multilayered climate of suspicion and distrust.

This student’s case sure seems fishy, but his distrust of AI detection tools isn’t wrong, but his university’s concerns aren’t wrong either. We can talk all we want about “right” and “wrong” uses of this tool, but the whole context had changed on a fundamental level, and that is creating problems for everyone.

A merely utilitarian perspective on technologies and ed tech doesn’t account for everything here. We need something more holistic, like Jacques Ellul’s technique to make sense of how generative AI has changed things.

• Jacques Ellul
• edtech
• generative Ai
• AI detection
• technique
• liar's dividend