Adelphi University student wins court ruling after AI plagiarism tool misidentifies report

Orion Newby, a first‑year student at Adelphi University, received a zero on a World Civilization paper after the Turnitin AI‑detection tool labeled the submission as "100% AI‑generated." Newby, who has level‑2 autism spectrum disorder and completed the paper with tutoring support, denied using AI and provided independent tests from Grammarly AI Detector and zeroGPT that showed a 0% AI probability.

The university upheld the plagiarism finding, required Newby to attend an anti‑plagiarism seminar, and rejected two formal appeals. With the professor’s encouragement, Newby filed a lawsuit. The court ruled the university’s actions were unreasonable and arbitrary, vacating the disciplinary record and sanction while criticizing the conflict of interest in the appeal process and the failure to consider the student’s evidence. The case has sparked broader discussion about the reliability of AI‑detection tools and the need for transparent academic adjudication procedures.