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Alex is halfway across campus when his phone buzzes. Not the group chat this time. A real email, flagged urgent, from Professor Henley in the English department.
From: Dr. Patricia Henley phenley@english.ucsb.edu To: Alexander Vukovic alexvuk@ucsb.edu Date: October 4, 2024 Subject: Academic Integrity Violation - Immediate Response Required
Mr. Vukovic,
Your most recent submission for ENG 240 shows clear markers of AI-generated text. The prose structure, thematic consistency, and syntactic patterns are inconsistent with your previous work and match known LLM outputs. This constitutes a violation of the academic honesty policy.
I am required to report this to the Office of Student Conduct unless you can provide satisfactory evidence of original authorship within 48 hours. This may result in suspension or permanent notation on your academic record.
Please respond promptly.
Dr. P. Henley Department of English
Alex stops walking. He reads it again. Then a third time, slower, like the words might rearrange themselves into something less absurd.
"Are you fucking kidding me," he says to no one.
He stands there in the middle of the sidewalk, students flowing around him like water around a rock. His thumbs are already moving, composing the response he wants to send:
To: Dr. Patricia Henley Subject: Re: Academic Integrity Violation
Patricia,