Syllabus Language & Ethics
Introducing Generative AI Policies to Students
Many teachers and students have concerns about the use of Generative AI and student academic integrity. First and foremost, instructors should establish clear expectations for the safe and ethical use of GenAI. Make your policy on GenAI use in your class overall and in specific assignments (if applicable) clear to students from the start of class.
Students should consult with their instructors about the acceptable use of GenAI for each course. The UCLA Student Conduct Code states, “Unless otherwise specified by the faculty member, all submissions, whether in draft or final form, to meet course requirements (including a paper, project, exam, computer program, oral presentation, or other work) must either be the Student’s own work or must clearly acknowledge the source.” (See our “Citing the Use of Generative AI” Guide). Unless an instructor indicates otherwise, the use of ChatGPT or other AI tools for course assignments is akin to receiving assistance from another person and raises the same concern that work is not the student’s own.
We strongly suggest talking to students about your statement and how it aligns with your teaching goals and students’ learning outcomes at the beginning of the quarter and when introducing any assignments and/or assessments. Consider incorporating this language into your syllabus. Below are some examples of generative AI policy language you might use in your syllabus.
Another option is to develop a learning contract between you, as the instructor, and the students, addressing both your expectations and concerns as an instructor as well as the students, like data privacy. Kathyrn Conrad’s AI Bill of Rights for Education is a great place to start.
Sample Generative AI Policy Language
Here are some examples of Generative AI policy language:
Not permitting AI in class
The use of AI writing tools (including, but not limited to, ChatGPT) is not permitted in this course. Students who use these tools for class assignments undermine the goals and learning objectives for this course, reducing the effectiveness of instruction. The instructor may submit student writing to an AI writing detector (e.g., GPTZero) at any point throughout the term. Any confirmed use of AI writing tools will be treated as academic dishonesty (see the UCLA Academic Integrity statement for more information). (Adapted from the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center)
All assignments should be fully prepared by the student. Developing strong competencies in the skills associated with this course, from student-based brainstorming to project development, will prepare you for success in your degree pathway and, ultimately, a competitive career. Therefore, the use of generative AI tools to complete any aspect of assignments for this course is not permitted and will be treated as plagiarism. If you have questions about what constitutes a violation of this statement, please contact me (Adapted from UT Austin)
Limited use of AI in class with citation
The recent advances in AI technology are already transforming the ways humans communicate. To prepare students for an AI-infused world, the use of AI writing tools in this class is permitted in some ways. Students are encouraged to use AI writing tools (such as ChatGPT) to generate ideas for their writing and coursework in this class; however, it is expected that all AI-generated content be reviewed, edited, and verified for accuracy before submission. Please note that you need to cite the specific AI writing tool as a source if you present any significant amount (i.e., more than one sentence) of minimally edited AI-generated text as your own. Please review the APA or MLA guidelines for citing generative AI writing tools. (Adapted from the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center)
Understanding how and when to use generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, and DALL-E) is quickly emerging as an important skill for future professions. To that end, you are welcome to use generative AI tools in this class as long as it aligns with the learning outcomes or goals associated with assignments. You are fully responsible for the information you submit based on a generative AI query (such that it does not violate academic honesty standards, intellectual property laws, or standards of non-public research you are conducting through coursework). Your use of generative AI tools must be properly documented and cited for any work submitted in this course (Adapted from UT Austin)
During some class sessions, we may leverage generative AI tools to support your learning, provide you with an opportunity to explore how they can be used, and/or better understand their benefits and limitations. Learning how to use AI is an emerging skill, and we will work through the implications of these evolving systems together, during class sessions. However, the use of generative AI will be limited to exercises during class sessions. I will always indicate when and where the use of AI tools during class sessions is appropriate (and not). Examples of use during ungraded classroom exercises might include:
Brainstorming new ideas,
developing example outlines or approaches to your work, and/or
generating different ways to talk about a problem.
In contrast, you may not use AI tools to generate work for an assignment to be submitted for a grade, as this cannot be considered a substitute for developing the fundamental skills and expertise represented by the learning objectives of this course. Please note that generative AI tools rely on predictive models to generate content that may appear correct, but has been shown to sometimes be incomplete, inaccurate, taken without attribution from other sources, and/or biased. Consequently, an AI tool should not be considered a substitute for traditional research approaches and you should complete all graded assignments without any assistance from AI tools. You are ultimately responsible for the content of the information you submit and may not attempt to pass off any work generated by an AI program as your own. (Adapted from CMU)
Permitting AI in class
The recent advances in AI technology are already transforming the ways humans communicate. To prepare students for AI-assisted work, the use of AI writing tools is permitted in this course with no restrictions. Note that this policy may be revised in light of other policies and novel technological developments in AI tools. (Adapted from the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center)
You are welcome to use generative AI programs (ChatGPT, DALL-E, etc.) in this course. These programs can be powerful tools for learning and other productive pursuits, including completing some assignments in less time, helping you generate new ideas, or serving as a personalized learning tool. However, your ethical responsibilities as a student remain the same. You must follow UCLA’s academic integrity policy. This policy applies to all uncited or improperly cited use of content, whether that work is created by human beings alone or in collaboration with a generative AI. (Adapted from CMU and Harvard)
In this course, using AI-content generation tools is permitted and will be a normal and regular part of our creative process when it is used according to the below criteria. In this course, neglecting to follow these requirements may be considered academic dishonesty. (1) For each assignment, you are required to include a paragraph that explains what AI content-generation tool you used, the dates you used it, and the prompts you used to generate the content according to the MLA style guide. (2) During critique, it is important to describe the precedents you used and how any source content was transformed. When showing or presenting images or other content you generated using an AI tool, cite that image or content following the MLA style guide. If you need help referencing your creative work, contact me to collaborate. (UT Austin)
Additional examples
There are additional examples from various institutions in this crowdsourced document: Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools. You can read through other educators’ submissions for syllabus statements, and submit your own.