Sample Gen AI statements to include in your course syllabus
The following syllabi statements have been shared by our faculty for others to use and adapt for their own courses.
From School of Journalism & Strategic Media, Kim Marks
Journalism and Strategic Media have four levels of Gen AI use policy for their courses. Choose the one that best fits your course.
Generic "Do Not Use" Statement: The use of AI tools to generate content is prohibited.
ChatGPT and similar AI tools, though useful in many contexts, are inappropriate for use in this course. One important outcome of this course is to strengthen your abilities as a critical thinker and writer. This is only possible when you do the work. You may not submit work written wholly or partially by an AI tool. You must complete all course assignments on your own or, when appropriate, with your classmates. Assignment submissions may be run through AI detection software. If your submission appears to have been written using AI, you may receive a failing grade or be asked to resubmit the assignment.
Generic "Use Only as Directed" Statement: AI tools may be used as directed.
Knowledge of how to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Dall∙E is expected in our industry and some assignments in this course may direct you to use these tools for specific purposes. On these assignments, you may use AI tools as directed. On all other assignments, you are not permitted to turn in any work that is created, completely or partially, by an AI tool. Assignment submissions may be run through AI detection software. Unauthorized use of AI tools may result in a failing grade or a request to resubmit an assignment.
Generic "Obtain Permission" Statement: AI tools may be used with permission.
In this course, you must obtain permission from the instructor before using ChatGPT or other AI tools to assist with assignments in this course. Once permission is granted, AI may only be used as directed. Assignment submissions may run through AI detection software. Unauthorized use may result in a failing grade or a request to resubmit an assignment. Be prepared to submit any prompts you used for assistance with your assignment as well as the original AI tool output and to be able to explain/show how you fact-checked and improved upon the AI’s work.
Generic "Use, but Disclose" Statement: AI tools may be partially used, with attribution.
In this course, you may use AI tools to assist you in brainstorming, gathering information, writing drafts, and revising your writing. However, you may not include AI-generated content in your final submission without attribution and a disclosure statement at the end of the assignment. The disclosure statement must describe which AI tool you used and how you used it. For example, "ChatGPT was used to draft about 30% of this assignment and to provide revision assistance. AI-produced content was edited for accuracy and style." Additionally, in a separate document, you must submit any prompts you used for assistance and the original AI-generated output with a brief explanation of how you fact-checked and improved upon the AI’s work.
From Department of English, Emily Gillo
Acceptable/Unacceptable Use of Generative AI
The use of Generative AI tools (Chat GPT, Bard, etc.) is permitted in this course
for the following activities:
- Brainstorming or refining ideas
- Fine-tuning research questions
- Experimenting with structure/form
- Helping with grammar and syntax
- Generating outlines
The use of generative AI tools is prohibited in this course for the following activities:
- Impersonating you in classroom contexts such as discussion boards
- Completing your portion of group work, unless mutually agreed upon by your peers and your instructor that you may utilize the tool
- Writing entire sentences, paragraphs, or papers to complete class assignments
Content within an assignment submission that has been generated by Artificial Intelligence must be properly cited and revised for clarity, correctness, and audience appropriateness. These tools may not be used in ways that violate the university’s policy on academic integrity. These tools should not be used to complete entire assignments, and you should not assume that any GenAI output is correct or appropriate. You are responsible for the information you submit based on an AI query. Any assignment that is found to have used generative AI tools in unauthorized ways may result in failure on the assignment or other consequences, see section above titled Plagiarism for more information. If you have questions about acceptable/unacceptable uses in this class, please contact your instructor. There will be several optional modules in this course throughout the semester that discuss the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence as a writing tool.
If you are struggling or feeling too much pressure in this course, please don't resort to chatbots as a shortcut to completing assignments. This is a common experience amongst college students and is completely natural, as higher education can be a high-pressure environment. Please remember that there are a lot of support resources available to you, and I believe that you can succeed here without shortcuts. Please contact me so we can talk about it; I will be happy to work with you to support your success in this course.