Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence

Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence

The number of artificial intelligence tools that perform tasks such “paraphrasing” or rewording
inputted text, solving problems/equations, writing code, answering questions, creating art, and
“writing” content such as blogs or whole academic papers is increasing.

The rise of ChatGPT has amplified the conversation around these tools, but they have existed
for quite some time in many forms.

AI tools may be used in a productive, creative, and educational manner, or they can be used to cheat, plagiarize, or attempt to disguise plagiarism. Instructors and students may be considering
using these tools, so it is important to understand the implications of their use and when and
how to use them appropriately.

The Howe Center for Writing Excellence and the Center for Teaching Excellence have published
information and resources about AI tools as they pertain to teaching and assignment design.
From an academic integrity perspective, instructors are encouraged to consider the following in
order to promote integrity, prevent dishonesty, and to address potential unauthorized use of
such tools, which could be considered a violation of the academic integrity policy:

Get to Know the Tools

  • Learn how ChatGPT and other tools (Jasper, Quillbot, DALL-E 2, Grammarly, Brainly,
    Symbolab, PhotoMath, Socratic, etc.) work. Use them yourself.
  • Think about how the tools might be used creatively in your course.
    • To demonstrate pros and cons of the tool(s)
    • To view with an information literacy lens
    • To analyze and critique what the generators produce in light of an assignment
      prompt or questions or to compare to work produced by students

Assignment Design

  • See the resources linked above, and other Teaching and Learning resources from the
    Centers, with regard to assignment and assessment design.
  • Follow best practices in creating assignments that minimize the opportunity to use AI
    tools or use them successfully (if you do not want students using them).
  • If allowing use of text-generating tools, require citations as you would for any source.

Communication and Expectations

  • Have discussions with your students about the use of AI text/answer/product
    generating tools.
  • Set clear guidelines and expectations – explain why you have these guidelines.
  • Include your specific guidelines in course syllabi and assignment instructions.
  • Provide resources on appropriate source use, paraphrasing and summarizing, and
    citation.
  • Have students practice paraphrasing and summarizing with an emphasis on
    understanding and explaining content rather than just rewording/reordering content.
  • Discuss the purpose of course assignments.

Unauthorized Usage Detection

  • Use the tools yourself to understand how they work and what they generate. Generate
    output for your assignments to use as comparison to student work.
  • Review sources (some AI tools fabricate sources).
  • Select specific sources/content/choices to follow-up on with students in a conversation
  • Online “AI Detection” programs exist, but they are not well-tested and may not be
    accurate.

If you suspect Academic Dishonesty or have questions about whether an issue can or should be
reported through the Academic Integrity process, contact Brenda Quaye, Assistant Director for
Academic Integrity.

Learn More

If you want to learn more about artificial intelligence and academic integrity, here are a few
good resources.

Thomas Lancaster’s blog: https://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog/

  • Thomas Lancaster is an educator in the UK who has been researching academic integrity
    issues for many years with specific expertise in contract cheating. He has been following
    and testing ChatGPT since it launched and has written about his experiences in his blog.

From the UK Quality Assurance Agency on Higher Education:
THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE AND POTENTIAL RISKS FOR ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY: BRIEFING PAPER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS


Resources and Presentation on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity from the University
of Maryland Teaching and Learning Transformation Center and Office of Student Conduct

  • Check out the sample syllabus language.