Two Massachusetts parents are suing Hingham Public Schools in a bid to reverse a bad grade given to their son after he used artificial intelligence in a research project.
The student, named in court documents filed last week as “RNH,” and a classmate worked on an Advanced Placement U.S. history project on NBA basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in December 2023. The two students, juniors at the time, used AI to make an outline for their work before writing their paper.
The Hingham High School handbook did not mention AI at the time in the section on cheating and plagiarism, according to a court document filed by plaintiffs Jennifer and Dale Harris. The 2024-2025 handbook includes some uses of AI in its definition of cheating.
“They told us our son cheated on a paper, which is not what happened. They basically punished him for a rule that doesn’t exist,” Ms. Harris told Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV Tuesday.
The two students got a “D” on the project and the Harrises’ son’s history grade for the year dropped to a “C.”
With college application season in full swing, the plaintiffs want the school to fix RNH’s grade and his transcript, asking in a separate court document to have his grade restored to a “B” and for the defendants to stop referring to the incident as cheating.
The son was initially barred from the National Honor Society, but was allowed to reapply when an investigation found other students had gotten in despite also using AI.
“We have already gotten something out of it, which is his induction into the National Honors Society,” the family’s attorney Peter Farrell said.
School officials are not commenting on the incident.
“To respect the privacy of the student involved and due to ongoing litigation, HPS is unable to provide further details at this time,” a Hingham Public Schools spokesperson told reporters.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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