Sample AI Syllabus Statements and Assignment Language

Sample syllabus statement

In this course, AI tool use is allowed with transparency. There are many skills you will build while gaining proficiency toward the course outcomes for this class. On your learning journey, you will have many tools and resources available to help you skill-build and gain deeper understanding. On all major assignments in this course, you may consult with artificial intelligence tools for brainstorming, drafting, and refining but it is not required. I expect that you will be transparent about how you used AI and the work you’ve done to make it your work. I will not accept work generated directly from AI tools. (i.e., wholesale assignments created by ChatGPT.) It is a matter of integrity for all students to follow this guidance or ask questions when confused. It’s ok to feel confused, but you need to seek clarity by contacting me. I’d love to chat! This ensures a fair, transparent, and ethical experience for everyone in this class, which I believe we all want. I encourage you to contact me if you have questions about the use of AI tools so that, together, we can ensure that we are using these tools in productive and ethical ways.

Sample syllabus statement

I expect you to generate your own work in this class. When you submit any kind of work (including projects, exams, quizzes, or discussions), you are asserting that you have generated and written the text unless you indicate otherwise by the use of quotation marks and proper attribution for the source. Submitting content that has been generated by someone other than you, or was created or assisted by a computer application or tool, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT is cheating and constitutes a violation of the Student Conduct Code. You may use simple word processing tools to update spelling and grammar in your assignments, but you may not use AI tools to draft your work, even if you edit, revise, or paraphrase it. There may be opportunities for you to use AI tools in this class. Where they exist, I will clearly specify when and in what capacity it is permissible for you to use these tools. 

Example of guidance on individual assignments

I want to address the new AI-tools that you may be hearing about, such as ChatGPT, and their possible role in this project. I want you to be aware that ChatGPT is based on a large language model--it is basically crowdsourcing information and providing likely answers based on the vast amount of text in its database. While it can provide some helpful information, and may spur your thinking in some areas, it is not a reliable source and cannot provide citations or references to reliable data or evidence. (If you ask it for a citation, be aware that it makes things up and the information it's giving you is likely garbage!)

So, can I use ChatGPT or other AI tools to help write this paper?

Things you can do: ask ChatGPT questions! I personally enjoy chatting with it about topics I'm interested in. For example, "What are some current issues related to sustainability in the airline industry?" When you read what it says, keep in mind that it's probably at least 60-70% correct, but perhaps not more than that. :-) Given that you're considering whatever it told you with a big grain of salt, you'll then need to do some research to find peer reviewed and reliable evidence that might corroborate (or disagree with!) what the AI tool told you. Use those articles to find other articles that consider the same question (review the citation list for other articles to read). Either before or after you ask ChatGPT a question, try a google search with the same sort of query and see what it turns up; also, try a search on the OSU library system. Review, compare, and investigate. Repeat this cycle, keeping in mind that what you're getting from AI is crowdsourced information, not the reliable product of research and assessment.

Things you cannot do: Do not use ChatGPT to draft your paper. Do not use ChatGPT to give you citations. I am saying this both for purposes of coming up with reliable evidence and also from an academic integrity (i.e. cheating) standpoint. If you didn't write it, don't put your name on it and claim that you wrote it. Don't modify a few words here and there and claim you wrote it either. Close the window before you start drafting and put the real evidence and articles you've found into your own words. Do your own analysis and critical thinking.

Sample syllabus statement

Acceptable and Unacceptable Use of AI

For this course, YOU must be the author of all coursework. You may use AI in some minor or non-substantive ways. The use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Dall-e, etc.) is permitted in this course for the following activities:

• Brainstorming and refining your ideas.
• Finding information on your topic.
• Drafting an outline to organize your thoughts.
• Checking grammar and style.

The use of generative AI tools is not permitted in this course for the following activities:

• Writing a draft of a writing assignment.
• Writing entire sentences, paragraphs, or papers to complete class assignments.

You are responsible for the information you submit based on an AI query (for instance, that it does not violate intellectual property laws, or contain misinformation or unethical content). Your use of AI tools must be properly documented and cited in order to stay within university policies on academic honesty. Any assignment that is found to have used generative AI tools in unauthorized ways will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students for an academic misconduct investigation. When in doubt about permitted usage, please ask for clarification.

Sample syllabus statement

Strong writing and research relies on the appropriate attribution of sources. In this class, we'll have many conversations about what counts as a source, and how to draw clear lines around where your ideas begin and others' end. As part of our learning about digital literacy and the appropriate attribution of sources, we'll discuss what counts as "original" writing with the increasing presence of this network of tools, so we'll talk about how to use those tools appropriately without over-relying on them or threatening the originality of your work.

Since the OSU Student Conduct Code defines Academic Misconduct as "an act of deception in which a Student seeks to claim credit for the work or effort of another person, or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work or research," we'll be mindful to avoid claiming the "work or effort" of a machine or AI, as well as another person, as our own. The baseline expectation for our class is that all of the work you submit is your own original writing. I may invite you to use other tools as part of an assignment process, but until then, you'll be expected to use your brain as the primary tool for creation.

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