Lecturer Fails Student for Using AI — Then Gets AI-Generated Apology

A university lecturer in the United States, Stephen Cicirelli, has shared an unusual experience with one of his students who relied entirely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for both an academic assignment and an apology letter.

Cicirelli, a faculty member at Saint Peter’s University, took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to narrate how he caught a student submitting an AI-generated research paper — only for the student to follow up with an apology that was also unmistakably written by AI.

“I just failed a student for submitting an AI-written research paper, and she sent me an obviously AI-written email apologizing, asking if there is anything she can do to improve her grade. We are through the looking-glass, folks,” he wrote.

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The post quickly went viral, sparking a flurry of reactions from academics, students, and digital ethicists. While some agreed with the lecturer’s stance, others questioned how he could confidently determine both the paper and the apology were generated by AI.

One user, @Sad_Liberal, commented: “As someone who does not often encounter AI writing, it’s hard to understand how an apology email could be obviously AI-written.”

Another user, @joozie75, asked: “Was it obviously AI as a standalone paper or only in the context of other knowledge of the student?”

Still, others sympathized with the lecturer, lamenting how rampant AI use is becoming in academic spaces and calling for better digital literacy training.

The incident has reignited ongoing debates around the role of AI in education, ethical use of technology in academic work, and how institutions should adapt policies to curb misuse.

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