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Using Artificial Intelligence Tools with Integrity (Students)

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As artificial intelligence (AI) tools continue to advance, everyone must learn about how to use them for personal and professional reasons. It is particularly important for students to learn how to use AI tools, but they should also learn when it is appropriate to use them and to what extent.

This article provides guidance on using AI when it is permitted by your instructor.

Article Contents

The Instructional Process and the Effects of Unguided AI Use

AI-Use Decision Tree

Quality Assurance of AI Content

Document and Cite AI Use

 

The Instructional Process and the Effects of Unguided AI Use

In the academic context, instructors teach their students and are responsible for assessing their students' knowledge and competencies; however, when students use AI tools to partially or wholly create content that will be assessed, instructors are denied the ability to make fair and accurate assessments of student capabilities. And students are denied the chance to showcase their newly acquired skills and receive valuable, formative feedback. In short, when AI use is unguided and unauthorized, it undermines the academic experience for all.

To enhance the instruction-learning process, students should only use AI tools when their instructors deem it appropriate, following any guidelines set forth in the assignment instructions. It is also important to know the general guidelines for using AI in an ethical manner, as it is possible to use AI tools without diminishing the opportunity to learn and grow one's skills.

When is it OK to use AI Tools in Extended Studies Courses?

Review the AI-Use Decision Tree below to ensure you are having the learning experience designed by your instructor.

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.

Quality Assurance of AI Content

When you use generative AI to create any work, it is necessary to review any output for accuracy because AI-generated content is not always correct. Your duty as a responsible and engaged scholar is to ensure all content you reference or include in your work, whether it is from external sources or AI, is of the highest quality.

Screen Output for Inaccuracy and Bias

The quality of AI-generated content is dependent on the dataset upon which the AI tool was trained, and datasets can contain factual inaccuracies and errors. In addition to being incorrect, AI output can also be biased, inappropriate, or offensive, which is again due to the content of the training data used by the AI system.

These weaknesses necessitate close and thoughtful review of any AI-generated content by the human user who intends to use that content.

Verify References

While AI systems provide citations or references to support their output, others do not. In order to be responsible, anyone using AI tools must review any provided references and investigate any other content to determine that is both accurate and appropriate.

Consult an Expert

Should you doubt AI-generated content and also find yourself unable to verify or disprove the content, you should review all information with your instructors, who can lend their expertise and professional knowledge to help you be a more discerning scholar.

Document and Cite AI Use

As AI tools become more prevalent in the academic context, so have the conventions to identify their use and to cite them in a scholarly way.

The following links provide an overview of how to cite AI use in the most common academic citation formations.

Because this is a growing area of scholarly responsibility, expect the guidelines to change or become more specific from use case to use case.

If you are using AI tools in anyway, be sure to document how and to what extent you are using them.

For example, you can do the following things to promote transparency and help your instructor give you the feedback you need to grow.

  • Cite any AI tools you have used
  • Indicate which portions of your content are AI-generated (or to what extent)
  • Draft your work in Google Docs to keep a log of all edits (e.g., what has been typed versus what has been copy/pasted in)

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Paraphrasing and Scholarly Citation in Academic Writing (Students)

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