ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The intent of course assignments is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the course material. You may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs such as ChatGPT to help generate ideas and brainstorm (i.e., collaborate with AI) with proper citation (see below). However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic (generally referred to as “confabulations” or “hallucinations”). Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity. You may also use AI responsibly as a "second reader" (with proper citation) to get feedback on grammar, spelling, structure, and flow for assignments that involve a significant amount of writing.
You may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own (see the section on Academic Integrity under University Policies below). If you include material generated by an AI program, it should be cited like any other reference material (with due consideration for the quality of the reference, which may be poor). For example, text generated using ChatGPT-4.0 should include a citation such as: “Chat-GPT-4.0, (YYYY, Month DD of query). “Text of your query.” Generated using OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/” Material generated using other tools should follow a similar citation convention. If you use AI responsibly as a "second reader" (with proper citation) to get feedback on your writing, be sure to note that in your written submission along with a citation and a summary of how you used the AI for feedback.
If you are unsure where the line is between collaborating with AI and copying from AI, specialists recommend the following heuristics:
- Never hit “Copy” within your conversation with an AI assistant. You can copy your own work into your conversation, but do not copy anything from the conversation back into your assignment. Instead, use your interaction with the AI assistant as a learning experience, then let your assignment reflect your improved understanding.
- Do not have your assignment and the AI agent itself open on your device at the same time. Like above, use your conversation with the AI as a learning experience, then close the interaction down, open your assignment, and let your assignment reflect your revised knowledge. This heuristic includes avoiding using AI assistants that are directly integrated into your composition environment: just as you should not let a classmate write content or code directly into your submission, so also you should avoid using tools that directly add content to your submission. Deviating from these heuristics does not automatically qualify as academic misconduct; however, following these heuristics essentially guarantees your collaboration with AI will not cross the line into misconduct.
The use of AI tools is not permitted during in-class examinations, or assignments, unless explicitly allowed.