Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Purposefully and knowingly turning in work that is not your own (including AI-generated work), or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, will result in a major course penalty, possibly failure of the course. This standard applies to all drafts and assignments, and a report of the incident will be submitted to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity (SCAI) in the Office of the Dean of Students. Under certain circumstances, the Dean of Students may file this incident in your permanent UT record and/or initiate proceedings to expel you from the University. So, take care to read and understand the Statement on Scholastic Responsibility. If you have any doubts about your work or use of sources, ask your instructor for help before handing in the assignment.

UT security guidance states: “AI tools should not be used to generate non-public outputs, such as proprietary or unpublished research, legal analysis or advice, recruitment or personnel decisions, academic work not permitted by instructors, creation of non-public instructional materials, or grading.”

If you use AI at any point in your process--for brainstorming, editing, grammar, etc.--you must include a short AI Use Disclosure Statement at the end of your assignment. This ensures transparency and proper acknowledgment of your tools.

Example Disclosure

“ChatGBT and Claude generative AI applications were used for initial topic research, audience analysis, proofreading, and editing."

In accordance with other units in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, such as the University Writing Center, our goal is to work with student writers on student writing throughout the writing process. Relying on text generator software disrupts and hinders the development of students’ voice, creativity, agency, and independent critical thought. To prioritize deep understanding of writing and its processes, no portion of the prompt for any assignment (or paraphrase) should go into a text generator (e.g., chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google GenAI-overview, Canva GenAI Assistant etc.). The writing produced for this course should be your own, and this course will value trial and error and revision as part of the writing process.

In many workplaces, GenAI is a collaborative tool that extends and polishes ideas. This class allows the use of GenAI as a tool that may be engaged during the writing process. But as with any technology, writers must deliberately and critically engage with the content received. To value student agency and decision-making in the writing process, this course requires that you 1) show how you engaged with GenAI through your process work and 2) properly cite GenAI in the citation style specified for each assignment. Using GenAI outside of these parameters may result in a major penalty, possibly failure of the course. 

When engaging with GenAI, it is necessary to recognize that technologies can reflect human biases and result in global impacts. Broader ethical issues surrounding GenAI include, but are not limited to: production of environmental harm, perpetuation of stereotypes and social injustices, deterioration of individual agency and voice, dissemination of misinformation through GenAI hallucinations, loss of opportunities for professionalization, lack of consent over uploaded materials and others’ intellectual property, and more.

In accordance with the University’s Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities, Chapter 11, students accept the responsibility to always uphold academic integrity and an honor code reflective of a scholarly community devoted to academic and personal success. All members of the University community are fully accountable and responsible for any output they produce as part of academic work. They are also responsible for following the guidance specified in the Texas Statement on Academic Integrity and avoiding prohibited uses of generative AI tools outlined in the Information Security Office’s guidance on Acceptable Use of Generative AI Tools.