{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-12T06:20:32.189Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"scotland","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":1},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-st-andrews-medical-student-dissertation-ai-misconduct-finding-upheld-then-overturned","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'to receive an academic misconduct alert saying the dissertation he had spent his summer writing had been flagged as being AI-generated'; 'was assessed by two human markers'; 'One of them raised concerns over the potential use of AI.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The student received an academic misconduct alert saying his dissertation had been flagged as AI-generated, after one of two human markers raised concerns about potential AI use.","causal_attribution":"The BBC's report of the student's account and of the university's description of the marking."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The marker's notes - seen by the BBC - raise concerns about the \"polished/uniform tone\" of the work'; 'noting the \"consistent flawless grammar and similar sentence structure with no variation in style\"'; 'a \"formulaic paragraph structure that follows a typical AI pattern'; 'a high usage of \"em\" dashes'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The marker's notes cite the work's polished, uniform tone, consistent grammar, formulaic paragraph structure and frequent dashes as grounds for concern.","causal_attribution":"The BBC's description of notes it says it saw."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he received the link five minutes after the start time for the hearing'; 'A week later, he received the decision that the allegations of AI usage had been upheld.'; 'This meant his mark would be capped at seven, just enough to pass'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After a virtual hearing whose link the student says arrived five minutes late, the allegations of AI use were upheld and his mark was capped at seven, just enough to pass.","causal_attribution":"The student's account as reported by the BBC."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The university accepted the appeal, recognising that the late arrival of the link affected his ability to present his case. He was invited to attend another hearing in mid-November.'; 'This time the university decided not to uphold the allegations.'; 'He eventually got his full mark for his dissertation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The university accepted the appeal because of the late link, and at a second hearing in mid-November it did not uphold the allegations; the student later received his full mark.","causal_attribution":"The BBC's report; the university's statement confirms that the appeal was upheld."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he was consumed by worries throughout the whole of that semester and it affected his studies.'; 'had to defer his exams for a semester and sit them in the middle of the summer. As a result, his graduation has been delayed until December.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The student says he was consumed by worries throughout that semester and that it affected his studies, that he deferred his exams for a semester and that his graduation was delayed until December.","causal_attribution":"The student's account of the consequences."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the decision to uphold the student's appeal related solely to a procedural issue concerning the arrangements for the hearing'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The university says the appeal was upheld solely because of a procedural issue concerning the hearing arrangements.","causal_attribution":"The university's statement to the BBC."}],"effects":[{"label":"misconduct finding of AI use upheld at first, capping the dissertation mark at a bare pass","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"semester of worry, deferred exams and delayed graduation (student account)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"allegations not upheld at the second hearing; full mark awarded","claim_id":"c4","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crelev8gw5xo","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English: the article text in full as served on 12 October 2026. An earlier syndicated copy on MSN said the decision would be reflected on his GMC professional record; the current BBC text says the matter may have to be declared when applying for provisional registration. This record uses the current BBC wording.","independence_group":"bbc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["unknown"],"contexts":["education"],"unknowns":["The panels' written decisions and the evidence each panel considered.","Whether any AI-detection tool was used at any stage; the report describes none.","The exact dates of the alert and the hearings beyond August and mid-November of the previous year.","The university's account of the case beyond its statement on the appeal."],"geography":{"basis":"The dissertation, the hearings and the appeal were at the University of St Andrews. The student's country of residence is not recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete account of a student penalised on a finding of AI use that the university later did not uphold, reported by the BBC from the student's interview, the marker's notes and a university statement. No AI system's role in the finding is established, and the record says so. The student is not named in this record.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm is the university's response to suspected AI use: a human marker raised concerns that the dissertation was AI-generated, citing its tone, grammar, paragraph structure and dashes, and a panel first upheld the allegation. The student says he did not use AI, and a second hearing did not uphold it. The report describes no AI-detection tool and no AI output about the student, so the relation is recorded as unknown.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"St Andrews medical student says a marker's suspicion of AI use led to an upheld misconduct finding, overturned at a second hearing after appeal","summary":"The BBC reported on 10 August 2026 that a University of St Andrews medical student received an academic misconduct alert in August of the previous year saying his dissertation had been flagged as AI-generated. According to the university, the dissertation was assessed by two human markers, one of whom raised concerns about possible AI use; the marker's notes, seen by the BBC, cite a polished, uniform tone, flawless grammar, formulaic paragraph structure and frequent dashes. The student says the link to his virtual hearing arrived five minutes after the start time. A week after the hearing the allegations were upheld, which capped his mark at a bare pass. The university accepted his appeal because of the late link, and at a second hearing in mid-November it did not uphold the allegations. He later received his full mark. The student says he was consumed by worries throughout that semester, that he deferred his exams and that his graduation was delayed until December. The university says the appeal succeeded solely on a procedural issue. The report describes no AI-detection tool, and the student says he did not use AI.","incidentDate":"2025-08-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-10","aiSystem":"No AI system is identified. A human marker suspected that the student's dissertation was AI-generated; the student says he did not use AI, and the report describes no AI-detection tool","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI writing tool (suspected)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A student says a misconduct finding of AI use, first upheld and later overturned, capped his dissertation mark at a bare pass for a period, left him consumed by worries for a semester, led him to defer his exams and delayed his graduation (BBC report based on the student's account, the marker's notes and a university statement).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the student whose dissertation was the subject of the misconduct finding. He is counted under other people harmed because no use of AI by the student is established.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crelev8gw5xo","primarySourceLabel":"BBC News, 10 August 2026: \"I was accused of using AI in my dissertation but I wrote it all myself\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:32:46.789205+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:32:46.789205+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-use-accusation","academic-integrity","education","appeal-upheld","scotland","ai-involvement-suspected"]}]}