- What do you want students to learn in the class?
- How might using AI help your students learn? In what ways might AI assistance allow students to take shortcuts that would hinder that learning?
- How might your policy differ between assignments? How will you communicate those differences, and the reasons behind them, to students?
- What are the consequences of inappropriate use of AI?
25Jul’23
What Is the Value of a Generative AI Policy?
Setting clear guidelines for individual courses or assignments enables students to focus on the learning objectives you want them to achieve. Because students are often not sure when or if they can use Generative AI, policies can be most helpful when they are tailored to your specific course and assignments, since some uses of AI might support student learning, but other uses would interrupt important processes students need to work through on their own.
Questions to Consider
Policy Examples from Penn Professors
HIST0400: Colonial Latin America, Undergraduate Lecture Course
In this course, generative AI (including but not limited to tools such as ChatGPT, Bing, etc.) may not be used to complete weekly reading responses, exam essays, or other assignments, unless the instructions specifically indicate that you may use it. There are many reasons for this policy: chief among them is that the course’s assignments and assessments are designed to give students opportunities to develop skills of source analysis and written expression. If students use generative AI, they lose these opportunities. The use of material produced by generative AI or the failure to disclose such use will be considered violations of the University’s Policy on Academic Integrity and will be referred to the Center for Community Standards and Accountability (CSA) for adjudication.
MEAM 5200: Introduction to Robotics, Graduate Engineering Course
Unless otherwise noted for a particular assignment, generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) may be used as a brainstorming tool to aid in information collection and organization. Prompting with an entire assignment and submitting unmodified output is not acceptable.
To ensure that the work you submit reflects your own understanding and to properly credit the generative AI tools, include a Disclosure of Generative AI Use section as the last section of each assignment. In this section:
- State whether you used generative AI (if not, state so explicitly)
- Name the tool(s) used
- Describe the types of prompts provided (e.g. conceptual questions, portions of the assignment, requesting code examples, feedback on ideas/code, etc)
- Identify which portions of your work (code, text, or analysis) include AI-generated content
- Explain the modifications you made to the AI-generated output
- Include any excerpts from prompts or outputs that clarify your use
The final work you submit must reflect your own understanding, ideas, and analysis. Also, be advised that generative AI may produce incorrect results and explanations. You must develop the skills to be able to critically evaluate output from these tools. This is why it is important to understand fundamental engineering principles so that you can evaluate sources of (mis)information.
Failure to follow this policy may result in a score of zero for the assignment. If you have questions about acceptable use, consult the instructor.
BIOE 5540: Bioethics and the Law, Introductory Graduate Lecture Course
You may use AI programs, e.g., ChatGPT, to help generate ideas and brainstorm. However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic. Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity.
You may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own. If you include material generated by an AI program, it should be cited like any other reference material (with due consideration for the quality of the reference, which may be poor). Any plagiarism or other form of cheating will be dealt with severely under relevant Penn policies.
MKTG 7790: AI in Our Lives, Upper-Level Undergraduate Seminar
Generative AI tools are allowed in this course without restriction. However, keep in mind the following:
- Generative AI models are not always producing output that is accurate and/or appropriate. For example, Large Language Models can make up facts and fake citations. You will be responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit.
- If you use generative AI, its contribution must be acknowledged in the assignment.
- The university's policy on plagiarism still applies to any uncited or improperly cited use of work by other human beings, or submission of work by other human beings as your own.
CIS 110: Introduction to Computer Programming (Python), Large Undergraduate Lecture Course
We recognize the increasing prevalence and power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and encourage their responsible and ethical use to enhance your learning experience. However, it’s essential to develop a strong understanding of fundamental processes before relying on AI. To that end, we provide some examples where AI tools are acceptable and unacceptable.
Examples of acceptable uses of AI:
- Comprehension and Expansion: It is acceptable to use AI to clarify and expand your understanding of lecture notes, slides, and provided code examples.
- Research and Information Gathering: AI can supplement your research and information gathering, aiding your exploration of complex concepts.
Examples of unacceptable uses of AI:
- Assignment Completion: You may not use AI for generating code or text for assignments. This includes written responses to README questions.
- Academic Integrity: Do not present AI-generated content without citation and as your own work. If you ask generative AI a question about a topic and it teaches you a new Python idiom, you should make sure to cite the AI when you use that code in this class.
- Engaging in unacceptable use of AI tools will result in academic consequences, which may include grade penalties, academic warnings, or other actions.
Note that these guidelines may differ from those in other courses.