NTU said the students were given zero marks after non-existent academic references and statistics were found in their work, following an investigation in April.

The university said the undergraduates were allowed to present their cases during a formal review, The Straits Times reported.

It said two of them admitted to using generative AI while the other student claimed to be unaware that a platform used for the assignment was an AI tool.

One student expressed her dissatisfaction on Reddit, claiming that she was falsely accused of using AI and committing academic fraud after making citation typos and using a reference organiser.

Despite submitting evidence of her writing process, her attempts at appealing the decision were unsuccessful, she said.

Another student expressed her grievances with the university’s formal review process, claiming that she was yelled at by her professor and not given a proper chance to defend herself.

While NTU did not disclose the exact guidelines on AI use for citation and summarising purposes, it said the students had already been told that using generative AI would result in a zero grade for all written assignments this semester.