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Can I use artificial intelligence tools to complete my coursework?

  • Updated

In general, using artificial intelligence tools to complete your assignments is prohibited unless otherwise noted by your instructor. To learn more about the Extended Studies Academic Integrity Policy, the institutional definition of artificial intelligence tools, and the factors that should be considered when submitting coursework, please read this important article.

Contents

    1. Academic Integrity Expectations at UC San Diego Extended Studies
    2. Classification of Artificial Intelligence Tools per Extended Studies' Academic Integrity Policy
    3. Can I use Artificial Intelligence to Complete my assignments?

 

Academic Integrity Expectations at UC San Diego Extended Studies

The excerpt below comes from the Extended Studies Academic Integrity Policy.

UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies values life-long learning and the opportunity to serve individuals, organizations and the community by providing continuing education and degree-related programs that support academic, professional, economic and social development.

To support our efforts, it is essential to create an environment where academics are achieved through one’s own effort. The Division of Extended Studies expects that academic study will be applied with honesty, responsibility to scholarship and with original thought. This is a shared responsibility between the instructors, the students and the administration.

The University and Division of Extended Studies expect both instructors and students to honor this principle and in so doing protect the validity of University intellectual work.

For students, this means that all academic work will be done by the individual to whom it is assigned, without unauthorized aid of any kind whether the course, or any part of the course, is held in a traditional classroom setting or in an online environment.

Instructors, for their part will exercise the planning and supervising of academic work so that academic integrity will be upheld.

Learn more about your rights and responsibilities at UC San Diego Extended Studies:

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Classification of Artificial Intelligence Tools per Extended Studies' Academic Integrity Policy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, etc.) are powerful tools capable of quickly generating any type of text as prompted by a user, and these tools are classified as aids in the context of any course of study at UC San Diego Extended Studies.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence to Complete my assignments?

Any use of AI to complete an assignment, discussion post, or other graded work, unless otherwise permitted in writing by your instructor, is considered use of an unauthorized aid according to the Extended Studies Academic Integrity Policy (Section IV, F). If your instructor believes that you have used AI to complete any part of an assignment, they will reach out to you to discuss the matter in more detail. 

Review the AI-Use Decision Tree below to help you determine if using AI would be suitable for a given academic task you have been assigned.

AI-Use Decision Tree

Move through the decision tree below to find out if using AI tools would be permissible in your academic situation.

1. Are AI tools explicitly allowed by my instructor and for this particular assignment or assessment?

  • If you answered "Yes," go on to Question 3.
  • If you answered "No," stop! Do not use AI tools at all; otherwise, you would be violating the academic integrity policy.
  • If you answered "I am not sure," you must contact your instructor for clarification before using any AI tools. You should also consider question 2.

2. Are AI tools doing the work for which my personal skills and knowledge are being assessed?

  • If you answered "Yes," then you are violating the academic integrity policy. Remember that all academic work must be done by the individual to whom it is assigned, without unauthorized aid of any kind whether the course, or any part of the course, regardless of course format (online, live online, in-person).
  • If you answered "No," go on to Question 3.
  • If you answered "I am not sure," you must contact your instructor for clarification before using any AI tools to complete any assignments or assessments.

3. If AI tools are permitted, am I citing any tool use and indicating which portions of the work are mine and which are AI-generated?

  • If you answered "Yes," then you are using AI tools in an ethical way and doing your part to uphold academic integrity.
  • If you answered "No," you would be in violation of the academic integrity policy. Students should always cite the source of any outside information used in work submitted for assessment and grading, and this includes AI tools. Talk to your instructor about their criteria for citing the use of AI tools and AI-generated content in your applicable assignments and assessments.

 

 

 

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