On Thursday, January 29^th 2026, the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) adjudicated a case of unauthorized use of AI involving a student in the class of 2028.

Background

During the 2025/26 Fall semester, students enrolled in the Leadership II course were cautioned against unauthorized use of AI tools. Despite this, several assignments were flagged for AI use, and failing grades were issued accordingly. One student disputed the allegation, leading to a formal review by the AJC.

Hearing

At the hearing, the student submitted a screenshot of an AI chatbot interaction to support the claim that their AI use complied with Ashesi policy. The screenshot showed the student requesting “ideas,” which the student argued did not constitute unauthorized use. The committee found this interpretation to be incorrect, as seeking ideas from an AI tool still constituted AI assistance.

Upon further request, the committee reviewed the actual chat history and discovered that the student had edited their prompts two months after the initial interaction. This review revealed an attempt to conceal an earlier prompt that explicitly asked the chatbot to generate a full 1,500-word essay. The essay produced by the chatbot closely matched the submitted assignment, indicating deliberate misrepresentation.

Verdict & Recommendation(s)

After deliberating, the AJC concluded that the student was found guilty of unauthorized use of AI and lying to university officials. The student would receive a failing grade for the class, and suspension for two (2) semesters.

As stated in Ashesi’s Student Handbook and AI Use Policy:

• “Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, unauthorized exchange of information or use of material during an examination, unauthorized transfer of information or completed work among students, use of the same paper in more than one course, unauthorized collaboration on assignments, and other unethical behaviour. Disciplinary action will be taken against academic dishonesty” (Section 7.4)
• “Unless explicitly allowed by a faculty member for a given course or assignment, the use of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Quillbot, Google Bard and others) for academic work by students is prohibited.”
• A student should not knowingly provide false information or make misrepresentations to any University office. (Section 9.2).
• Ashesi University, its students, and its professional associations will not in any way condone cheating, lying, or any other misrepresentations. Moreover, anyone who willingly conceals these activities will be considered accomplices and equally culpable. (Section 7.5)

Advice to the Ashesi Community:

The AJC would like to remind students that the use of AI and a lack of academic integrity will have serious repercussions. In addition to this, the Ashesi community should remember the following:

• AI use is not limited to only copying generated content. When students share assignments with AI chat bots for guidance, they must understand that this is using AI.
• When students repeatedly commit infractions in class, this must be recognized as multiple violations of Ashesi’s Code of Conduct. Repeated infractions should be escalated to the Dean of Student & Community Affairs for guidance on sanctions.
• Lying and misleading university officials are serious violations of Ashesi’s Code of Conduct.
• It is essential to learn from previous academic integrity violations to understand the seriousness with which such cases are treated.

We trust that this case will serve as a learning experience for our community. Academic honesty is very important at Ashesi and is central to our mission: To train a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within our students the critical thinking skills, concern for others, and the courage it will take to transform a continent. This applies to all no matter the circumstance.