AI Policies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

After teaching English for 24 years, I can easily spot AI-smoothed out sentences and AI-generated content. Such writing both bores and disappoints me. It's not human.  

That said, I recognize that AI is in every realm right now; every program seems to be encouraging you to use generative AI to write anything from an email to a research essay.  Therefore, in this composition class, you will need to include an AI disclosure to accompany each and every assignment. As a reader, teacher and human being, I need to understand where your writing is coming from. I don’t want to doubt and question what I’m reading, spending my time wondering if I’m reading your ideas and your voice. As a result, I need you to disclose your AI usage to me and your peers.

No AI 

• This means you do not use any technology to support your writing at all.  

Example - Disclosure Statement for No AI

I did not use any technology to help me with this assignment. 

AI as Assistive Technology, this includes using:

• Spell Check

• Grammar Check 

• Translated phrases (not full paragraphs or essays)

In this case, artificial intelligence, the computer, is helping you see your errors. This is a great way to use technology! You, the human, get to choose what you will change. You still have the power. And I want you to explain that power. What AI technology did you use? What choices did you make and why? 

Example - Disclosure Statement for AI as Assistive Technology

In this syllabus, I have used AI assistive technology (thesaurus) to help me find the best word choice for this AI policy. I chose the word "disclosure" because that’s what I’m asking students to do: disclose (or reveal) the AI they used. I also used the thesaurus to find the word slay (to slay gremlins).  I like the play on words.  My daughter uses the word slay a lot.  I like to think that Arnie and I slay (are cool) and that we slay (meaning destroy) shame gremlins.  Finally, I also used spell check. I want my ideas to be clear and accessible to my readers.

Generative AI

• Using a source like ChatGPT to generate ideas in response to an assignment prompt. In this case, artificial intelligence, the computer software, is generating ideas for you. This–to me as a human being–is problematic because I am interested in your unique ideas that stem from your perspective, meaning your lived experiences. AI can’t capture your perspective.

I highly discourage you to use this generative AI option, but I can’t forbid it. If you choose to use AI to generate your responses to an assignment, then you need to analyze–in your own voice/words–what you learned from this generative AI result/answer/content and why you chose to use and submit the AI-generated work.  This will support the critical thinking and writing learning outcomes we need to practice in this writing course.  Your analysis will need to be at least 2-3 paragraphs and in your own words. You will need to address the following: 

1. What AI program did you use?

2. Why did you choose to have AI generate ideas for you? 

3. What did you learn about the assignment prompt from AI’s response? 

4. How can you independently apply what you learned from this assignment to future ones? 

Example - Disclosure Statement for AI as Generative 

(I don't have an example yet.  This is my first semester using this policy.  And I don't want to write/include an inauthentic response.  That seems to go against the whole point I'm trying to make:  authenticity and credibility.  I did, however, find this sample from the Naval Postgraduate School.  It provides several different examples with several different questions (they are not the same questions I ask).  But it gives you some examples.  

AI-Generated Translation

As a monolingual English speaker, I can't image how challenging it must be to write college-level work in another language, especially if you have advanced degrees and vocabulary in your native language.  However, AI translated texts have become a bit suspect to me.  They don't sound authentic, especially in terms of word choice and sentence style.  This source from the University of Melbourne captures my concerns:

Translation, editing tools and academic integrity

A fundamental principle of maintaining academic standards is that you are expected to create and express your own ideas. There are several ways that using translation and editing tools interact with this principle.

The first is in creating your own ideas. Using these tools may change the meaning of your work even if that was not your intent. It may become unclear whether an idea is genuinely yours, whether you are demonstrating your understanding of the subject, how the idea was generated or even the sources that were being used.

The second is in how you express your ideas. Learning to do this well is an important part of developing your academic skills. Expression or language use may be a learning outcome in your subjects or course. These tools can be used to the extent that the expression is no longer your own or you gain an unfair advantage over other students who have not used these tools.

Finally, translation and editing tools are sometimes associated with other types of misconduct such as plagiarism. The outputs of these tools may be identified by the Turnitin detector for artificial intelligence writing. Staff may need to ask you to explain or discuss your work as part of the academic integrity checks performed across all assessments at the University.

I do, realize, though that Google Translate (GT) can also be a useful learning tool.  Pham et. al's paper "University Students’ Perceptions on the Use of Google Translate: Problems and Solutions" offers this student perspective:  

Although GoogleTranslate has a number of advantages for students, several problems such as erroneous grammar and semantics on a frequent basis have led to misunderstanding of original words.As a result, students discovered that they needed to deal with these problems by double checking the results in a dictionary or other translation programs, as well as the help from a peer or [tutor].It is suggested that GT is a helpful machine translator, but students are encouraged to know how to make some judgement on its results for a better translation version.

Therefore, I want you to explain your judgment to me. If you choose to translate your responses to an assignment, then you need to analyze–in your own English voice/words–what you learned from this translated AI result/answer/content and why you chose to use and submit the translated work. This will support the critical thinking and writing learning outcomes we need to practice in this course. Your analysis will need to be at least 2-3 paragraphs and in your own words. You will need to address the following: 

1. What translating app did you use?

2. Why did you choose to translate your work? 

3. What did you learn about the assignment (its content/structure/purpose) and the English language from AI’s translation of your work? 

4. How can you independently apply what you learned from this translation to future assignments? 

Example - Disclosure Statement for AI Translation

I don't have an example of this yet. This is my first semester using this policy. And I don't want to write/include an inauthentic response. Arnie and I can help you craft your disclosure statement.