Academic integrity and artificial intelligence (AI)
Academic offences can take many forms – from plagiarising the work of others, colluding with course-mates on an independent assignment, paying someone else to write an assignment or cheating in exams. This is not an exhaustive list and you can read more about common academic offences on the BU website.
While it is not an academic offence to use generative AI when writing your coursework, your tutors want to see what you have learned and how you have developed. We want to be able to give you feedback to help you get the most out of the degree that you are paying for. This becomes trickier when using generative AI, so we have produced a guide for you to use this resource responsibly and appropriately, which can be found here on the Academic Skills Hub.
No matter the assignment, we want to see that you:
Make sure that your work is free from errors
Are truthful about which ideas are your own, and which are derived from others, and about the results of your research
Are not trying to gain an unfair advantage - for example, passing off the work of others as your own
Take an active role in your own learning - for example, seeking out information you need to study effectively
You respect your fellow students, tutors and the work of others.
Some of the common pitfalls of using generative AI in academic work are:
Passing the work off as your own, either on purpose or by improperly referencing
Not checking facts that you have been given by AI, as these can sometimes be factually inaccurate "hallucinations" or outdated information. We must always verify AI outputs by checking independently other reliable sources
Not checking misspellings written by AI, this could be due to using an American English system that wouldn't pick up on spelling errors such as "organization" instead of the proper English "organisation"
Letting the AI algorithm, with the classifications, assumptions, and biases that exist within their training dataset, come to conclusions for you about your research
AI can be unreliable and inconsistent, therefore it is up to you to use your knowledge gained on your course to decide whether the outputs are appropriate.
If you think you have committed an academic offence or are suspected of having committed an academic offence, SUBU Advice is on hand to provide guidance and support.
