Emory student sues school for suspension over award-winning AI tool

US News

From Matthew Sedacca

An Emory University student is suing the Georgia college after he was suspended for developing an AI tool to help students learn — months after winning first prize in the university’s startup competition with the same tech innovation.

Benjamin Craver, who just completed his penultimate year of college, claimed the school punished him and a co-founder of the program called Eightball, allegedly for violating the school’s honor code, according to a lawsuit filed against Emory in federal court in Atlanta earlier this month.

The unexpected penalties came months after Emory encouraged — and even celebrated — the students’ development of the learning tool, court documents show.

Craver, 20, and another student developed the idea and an early version of an AI-powered learning tool that would become Eightball in fall 2022. They entered the university’s business school’s pitch competition.

The program they created allowed students to upload course materials to a private server, which then generated learning materials such as flashcards or mock exams, court records show.

In January, the university’s honors council claimed that Eightball violated school rules because it was created with the intent of helping students cheat. According to court documents, it was connected to a server where professors post course material.

Despite taking home the $10,000 first prize in the March 2023 competition for “Eightball,” receiving a feature in the school’s newspaper and the tool being featured on the business school’s website, Craver and his co-founder were suspended from Emory this year, accusing them of violating the university’s honor code, court records show.

However, the Honor Council did not accuse Craver or his co-founder of cheating, nor did it provide any evidence that students used Eightball to cheat, the lawsuit says.

Emory eventually suspended Craver for a semester and a summer and banned him from writing a thesis, delaying his graduation and potentially affecting his future career as a lawyer, he claimed in court papers.

“I was pretty shocked,” Craver told the Wall Street Journal.

“A suspension basically stays on your record forever. I would always have this mark of academic dishonesty, which is annoying.”

Craver is seeking a jury trial and $75,000 in damages, the suit says. He told the Journal that the costs will be covered by his parents.

He added that he also hopes the lawsuit will persuade the university to reverse its decision and remove the suspension from his record.

Emory did not immediately respond to a request for comment.