AI & Academic Integrity

Students will receive no credit (zero, 0, F) on ANY work that violates ACC’s Academic Integrity Policy, and the instance will be reported as a case of Academic Misconduct in accordance with ACC’s Disciplinary Process. Possible additional disciplinary sanctions include but are not limited to an F in the course. For more information, go to: https://www.austincc.edu/about-acc/academic-integrity-and-disciplinary-process

Academic Integrity and AI (Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT, etc.): All students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity in this course.  Students are permitted to use AI tools in specific, limited ways to support their learning. The following conditions apply to AI tools, such as chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, CoPilot) and content generation tools.

You may use AI tools for reflection, ideation, and studying—for example, brainstorming ideas or reviewing concepts. You may use AI to assist in generating content only if you then edit and refine that content yourself.

You must submit the following:

• A screenshot of the prompt you entered into the AI tool.

• A copy of the AI-generated content before you make any edits.

• The final version of your paper, including any edits, along with citations for any AI-generated content.

Conditions for Using AI Chatbots:

• You are required to cite any content or ideas generated by AI, following either APA or MLA guidelines.

• You may only input your own data into AI tools—never enter private, sensitive, or copyrighted data from this course or others without explicit consent.

• AI tools should not be used to complete assignments on your behalf but can serve as a study aid to enhance understanding and support critical thinking.

Student Responsibilities:

• You must check for inaccuracies, biases, offensive content, and plagiarism in AI-generated output and address them accordingly.

• Verify that sources generated by AI are credible and properly attributed.

• You must include a metacognitive reflection in your submissions, explaining how and why you used AI, its impact on your learning, and how you might use it in the future.

Rationale for This Policy:

• AI tools can enhance learning when used critically but should not replace original thought or effort.

• Students need to build AI literacy and demonstrate that they can responsibly engage with these technologies.

• The policy aims to maximize learning outcomes by ensuring that AI is used only to complement, not hinder, your development as a scholar.

Consequences for Non-Compliance:

Failure to adhere to the guidelines (e.g., not including required citations, reflection sections, etc.) will result in a grade penalty of 0 for the assignment.

Second infraction will result in being dropped from the course. 

Student Handbook: Handling Academic Problems

A Final Word on AI in Our Course:

Generative AI tools are a valuable resource when used responsibly. My goal is for you to develop your creative voice and critical thinking skills in this course. If you choose to use AI, I encourage you to reflect on its limitations and avoid relying on it to complete your work. AI should support your learning, not replace it.

Fairness and Responsibility:

I, too, will adhere to the same standards when using AI for my work in this course, ensuring transparency and responsible use of these technologies for the benefit of our learning community.

In any instances where the use of language processing AI has been instructor approved or is included as part of an assignment, students are expected to appropriately cite it as a source in accordance with the guidelines provided for citations and references in this course (https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/)

Students are cautioned that AI may inadvertently produce biased or inaccurate content. It is incumbent upon the student to critically evaluate and verify the information provided by these platforms. Relying on unverified GAI content for academic work is unacceptable and may lead to disciplinary action.