Artificial Intelligence and Homework Support Policies
AI text generators, like earlier technological innovations—calculators, Google Translate, spell-check—have asked us to rethink our approach to student tool use and academic honesty. Options range from excluding the use of AI (and using online tools to detect it in student work) to using it as a focus of critical analysis. Note that the official policy of the Georgetown Honor Council is that students using AI-generated text and representing it as their own work constitutes a violation of academic integrity.
Below we've provided policy options, as well as rationale for using each of them—or not. Feel free to use the language below in your syllabus, and adapt as necessary. Bear in mind that, especially because AI tools are the growing in development, clear policies about their use in your class is crucial for students to know.
Integrate AI
Students are allowed to use AI tools, with proper citation.
Sample Syllabus Policy: "New AI text generation tools may be helpful tools for this course and indeed your future professional lives. Some assignments in this course will require the explicit and intentional use of generative AI. When using and AI generator in your work, including in those assignment, the AI generator used to support your work must be included as a source/citation."
| Rationale For | Rationale Against |
| An interesting way to help students think critically about these new tools; can help them develop metacognitive skills and reflect on their own work. May also reflect professional trends of how AI will be used in the industry or field, better preparing them for their next professional steps. Leverages the fact that students are already using these tools to introduce how to use them effectively, and how to critically think about their output. trust in students. Inclusive to a wide range of learning needs. | Assignments will need to be constructed to incorporate AI’s use and may would mainly be relevant only in certain courses (e.g., writing and computer science) and would in other contexts distract from the main points of the content or the specific learning objectives. |
Check out our Artificial Intelligence Tools page to explore sample assignments that directly integrate AI tools into the process.
AI Tools Limited
AI can be used by students at some stages of assignments/work, but not at others.
Sample Syllabus Policy: "New AI text generation tools may be able to generate ideas/topics for your assignments, formulate structure for your written work, and can even help you find existing research on the topic. These uses are permitted in this course. The writing and revising, however, must be your own; you may not use AI text generators to write any portion of the paper itself, and using AI tools in this way will be treated as a case of plagiarism and referred to the Honor Council. The AI generator used to support your work must be included as a source/citation."
| Rationale For | Rationale Against |
|---|---|
| Can be useful in courses where you’re more interested in what students do with ideas in a polished final project than in how they get started generating or organizing those ideas. This could also be useful when assignments are conducted during class-time to allow the students to learn directly from the faculty member on how generative AI can and could be used and when its use is not optimal. | More complicated than a no-use policy. Could leave room for misinterpretation, where students may not see a clean line between what they should contribute/write and what AI is ‘allowed’ to do for them. |
No AI Tools Permitted
Students are not allowed to use AI tools in doing course work.
Sample Syllabus Policy: "In this course, your ideas and your voice are what matters. Using AI text generation tools at any stage of working on your assignments (idea generation, looking for sources, outlining/organizing, writing, revising, etc.) would make it much harder for me to evaluate and respond helpfully to your work, since I wouldn’t be able to tell what’s coming from you. As such, you’re not permitted to use AI text generating tools at any point when working on your assignments, and I will treat the use of AI text generators as academic dishonesty, and will report the incident to the Honor Council."
| Rationale For | Rationale Against |
|---|---|
| Clear standard that will be hard to misinterpret. Asks students to demonstrate their ability at each stage of the writing process. | Takes a potentially useful tool away from students, who might be able to use AI to help them organize ideas. May also be unrealistic given our current ability to detect what is AI-generated. May also be misaligned with future workplace practices. |
Whether or not AI is allowed in working on other assignments, you might consider bringing it into the classroom as an object of study unto itself. These sample assignments offer demonstrations of how faculty have done this.
