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Eightball was intended to be an AI tool that would turn coursework into learning aids like flashcards and practice tests. Its founders, students at Emory University, won Emory's pitch competition last year, receiving a $10,000 grand prize and advertising from the university on its own social media channels.
Although Emory initially seemed to support Eightball, the university recently decided to suspend the students who developed it.
Benjamin Craver, one of Eightball's suspended student founders, filed a lawsuit against Emory University on Monday, detailing how Eightball transformed itself from a lauded, public AI tool funded and promoted by Emory into one Tool that the university asked him to close.
Craver says the suspension, which he has appealed and cut school time to one semester, affects his ability to graduate with his class, write an honors thesis and apply to law school.
Craver, who oversaw the marketing side of Eightball, could have been suspended for a year, and his co-founder and developer, who was unnamed in the 27-page lawsuit, could have been expelled because the school feared that Eightball was “possibly” used to cheat – although Craver claims there is no evidence of this.
Emory University campus (Photo by Davis Turner/Getty Images)
In the lawsuit, Emory Craver said in November that Eightball “can be used by students to complete assignments in violation of the Student Academic Honor Code,” which prevents students from “intentionally assisting” other students in cheating, plagiarizing or violating the Code of honor helps.
The Emory Honor Council conducted an investigation and held a hearing on Eightball in January.
The council heard from two Emory employees as witnesses who suggested that Eightball's integration with Canvas, an online platform with course materials, was a “major problem.”
Craver claimed he and his co-founder told the university about the possible Canvas connection in the pitch competition they won in spring 2023. However, according to the documents, only a handful of students have actually linked their Canvas accounts.
After the hearing, the Honor Council stated that “Eightball is based on a blueprint that includes the ability to cheat,” meaning that Craver and his co-founder knew it could be used that way “and built it with intent.” .
Craver's filing states that he was not asked about his intentions and that “at any time none of the witnesses described how Eightball could be used to cheat or provided evidence that anyone actually used Eightball to cheat.”
The council recommended a one-year suspension for Craver and the expulsion of his co-founder. The school has since reduced the disciplinary action to a semester summary for both. Craver sues to avoid being suspended at all.
The case is tied to the broader question of how AI can remain safe and traceable as more people use it. At ChatGPT maker OpenAI, one of the largest AI companies in the world, two AI security research leaders recently resigned, including Jan Leike, who said he left the company because he believed OpenAI was undermining AI security do not give priority.
Related: Now that OpenAI's superalignment team has been disbanded, who will stop AI from spiraling out of control?
Emory University did not immediately respond to the entrepreneur's request for comment.
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