The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into higher education has reignited a familiar moral panic around academic dishonesty. While much of the immediate institutional response has centered on detection and enforcement, this reaction echoes a familiar pattern—one that treats academic dishonesty as an individual moral failure rather than a symptom of broader systemic issues (Bertram Gallant, 2008). AI tools such as ChatGPT or Grammarly simply fit into this equation as time-saving devices—much like calculators, Google, or even essay mills before them. What has shifted is not the motivation, but the accessibility. A student’s use of AI is a reflection of the transactional nature of how learning is often experienced in contemporary institutions.