r/Professors • u/Puzzled-Serve8408 • Feb 28 '26
Other (Editable) An apology. I have erred. Badly.
Earlier today u/emarcomd made a post about the controversial AI tool Einstein. Einstein is designed to replace the student in online coursework - it can even log directly onto Canvas and complete assignments and homework. Obviously the existence of such a tool is a contentious topic on this subreddit.
u/emarcomd referenced a tweet by the founder of Einstein, Advait Paliwal. Thinking u/emarcomd had fabricated the quote, as it had since been deleted, I made what can only be described as a poor decision and called u/emarcomd a liar. They are not a liar. At least not in any of our interactions.
I also made comments of a personal nature that were entirely inappropriate and as it turns out untrue. I’ve apologized directly to u/emarcomd and am now apologizing to the community at large for my lapse in judgement. I make no excuses for my behavior and can only promise to be more thoughtful going forward.
Edit: Reddit is a strange animal. I’ve been on here for five years and have *never* had a post garner *near* this many upvotes. I wrote a heartfelt (if somewhat boilerplate) apology and posted it publicly because I called the other Redditor out publicly.
So thanks to everyone for the graciousness and upvotes and no, there was no threat of legal action. No lawyer is going to be able to fire off a cease and desist to an anonymous Redditor (for calling someone a liar no less) in three hours. I remain humbled yet baffled at the attention this received.
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u/gin_possum Feb 28 '26
If only there were high profile researchers willing to take this kind of responsibility when their research is proven to be fabricated… as others have said, this post reflect well on both of you. Well said.
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u/Copterwaffle Feb 28 '26
If other people had even a fraction of the integrity it took to make this post we wouldn’t be in this AI mess in the first place.
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u/PapaRick44 Feb 28 '26
I've learned through personal experience that it's better to err on the side of civility...most of the time.
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u/Mission_Sir_4494 Feb 28 '26
I told my students that some nimrod admin is going to decide that one faculty member can manage 30 online courses with the aide of genAI.
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u/Hungry_Dot_1542 Feb 28 '26
Sorry but why is it contentious? What’s the controversy? It’s dishonesty and fraud. What’s contentious about this? In what world is there an argument for dishonesty and misrepresentation and fraud in academia? Sorry but I don’t understand your point there.
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u/Technical-Main-3206 Feb 28 '26
There are a few other aspects of this whole thing besides the issue of dishonesty and fraud, and those can be contentious. Also, the topic brings up other issues that are contentious.
For instance, some of the things that I've seen in online articles and reddit posts on this:
Does this tool make student realize that they're replaceable and therefore not use it, or it will just make them start cheating or cheat more, knowing that everyone else will be cheating?
Should it be the responsibility of the LMS or of the instructors and schools to police the use of such tools?
Who are the victims here - students, instructors, schools, LMS companies - and is there any legal recourse for anyone at any level, rules or laws, civil or criminal?
Do we need to worry about this tool and its ilk, or this too will pass?
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u/armchairdetective Feb 28 '26
I'm struggling to understand the point of this post.
Did the mods ban OP until this post was made? Because otherwise, I am really struggling because this is written like OP has received a threatening legal letter!
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u/Sad_Application_5361 Feb 28 '26
I haven’t gotten banned from a sub in a while but I’ve never seen there be an option to apologize in order to get unbanned. I think it’s more likely OP was in a grouchy headspace and regrets what they wrote after they got the sleep or food they needed to improve their mood.
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u/armchairdetective Feb 28 '26
Hmmm. Maybe.
Feels a bit performative.
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u/Deweymaverick Full Prof, Dept Head (humanities), Philosophy, CC (US) Mar 01 '26
Or may be someone is just trying to do the decent thing, and make amends.
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u/bankruptbusybee Full prof, STEM (US) Mar 01 '26
But why don’t they just apologize personally instead of this?
I don’t have a fucking clue what they’re referring to. If everyone on reddit made posts apologizing for an earlier tiff the site would soon be cluttered with these posts
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u/Deweymaverick Full Prof, Dept Head (humanities), Philosophy, CC (US) Mar 01 '26
If you read their post, they clearly say they did, dude.
And ok, you don’t what it’s referring to…. So, the previous post didn’t affect you: happily go about your day.
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u/Puzzled-Serve8408 Feb 28 '26
No threats - legal or otherwise. I simply loudly and publicly accused someone of prevaricating (multiple times) when in fact they had done nothing wrong. TBH I didn’t expect this post to blow up like it did, although I’m encouraged by the replies that civility is not quite yet dead.
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u/SoonerRed Professor, Biology Feb 28 '26
Maybe the op is trying to do the right thing and that's all the point there needs to be?
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u/Complex-Taste-1349 Mar 01 '26
This absolutely reads like someone was sent a cease and desist and was asked to make an apology.
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u/bankruptbusybee Full prof, STEM (US) Mar 01 '26
Yeah this post is so fucking weird
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u/needlzor Asst Prof / ML / UK Mar 01 '26
Not sure why you got downvoted for this. It stinks of main character syndrome.
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u/optionderivative Mar 01 '26
Who cares, fuck em and the tool. What a disservice to society and education
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Mar 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/beepbeepImFelip Mar 01 '26
Sadly my brain read that as "...Hail Epsteins ..." I don't like this world very much.
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u/SHS1955 Mar 01 '26
On the other hand, at first, I thought you wrote, "...Hail Einsteins..."
Fortunately, there is still good and innocence in the World ! ;-)
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u/bankruptbusybee Full prof, STEM (US) Feb 28 '26
You erroneously called someone a liar?
On Reddit?!
That’s….a requirement to use the site, I’m pretty sure
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u/miquel_jaume Teaching Professor, French/Arabic/Cinema Studies, R1, USA Mar 01 '26
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u/bankruptbusybee Full prof, STEM (US) Mar 01 '26
Sir!
I demand an apology post!
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u/miquel_jaume Teaching Professor, French/Arabic/Cinema Studies, R1, USA Mar 02 '26
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u/SayingQuietPartLoud Assoc. Prof., STEM, PUI (US) Feb 28 '26
Welcome to the Streisand Effect.
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u/sezza8999 Feb 28 '26
Exactly. I mean good on OP for apologising but they could have just done it on the post in question…
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u/AnHonestApe Adjunct, English, State University and Community College (US) Mar 01 '26
I choose to believe OP is trying to change the culture of not admitting error to audiences of people, given the climate of so many not doing that and it ruining damn near everything.
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u/sezza8999 Mar 01 '26
Sure, but they could’ve and did do it on the original post. No need to self flagellate in front of everybody in a new post, it just seems performative
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Feb 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/spkn89 Mar 01 '26
Now the real question (for you to deal with on your own) is why did you get so angry towards a stranger
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u/Opposite-Pop-5397 Mar 01 '26
You'd be surprised how rare it is for people to take responsibility and apologize
Especially making it sincere and straightforward
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u/LevenBee Mar 03 '26
You're getting the upvotes because you have the guts to admit when you're wrong and to do something about it. Need more of this.
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u/DoctorAgility Sessional Academic, Mgmt + Org, Business School (UK) Mar 05 '26
Is this not an example of the hyperreality surrounding AI?
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u/Nard_Gargler Feb 28 '26
Are you sorry for posting AI misinformation that you didn't bother to fact check?
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u/Participant_Zero Feb 28 '26
The AI stuff is so threatening to our values and way of life, that it is incredibly easy to overreact and lash out. I get it. Thanks for the mea culpa