Syllabus Course Policies - Generative AI Considerations

The syllabus sets the tone for your course and is a method of clearly communicating your expectations - including your expectations around Generative AI. Disciplines and courses are diverse in their content and learning outcomes, and instructors in the extent to which they permit the use of AI in assignments will also vary. With this in mind, the following definitions and examples are offered as guidance.

Levels of artificial intelligence use within a course
AI Usage Level	Description	Example
AI Inclusive	GenAI tools can be used for any and all coursework.	Students are encouraged or expected to use GenAI tools to help foster AI literacy
AI Conditional	GenAI tools can be used with certain parameters, such as on specific assignments, use of specific tools or with appropriate attributions.	Students can use GenAI tools to develop visual aids for presentations, but attribute the tool used.
AI Restrictive	GenAI tools are wholly prohibited for coursework.	All academic work must be the result of learner's own thought, research, or self-expression.

Examples

Explore examples of syllabus statements focused on generative AI tools within a course. Due to the nuance of generative AI, the levels do not stand alone, so you may find areas of overlap. To that end, these examples are intended as guidance when developing AI statements appropriate for your course.

Note: To expand/collapse examples for all levels, press a.

AI Inclusive
- Artificial intelligence (AI) language models, such as ChatGPT, may be used for any assignment with appropriate citation. You are responsible for fact checking the accuracy of statements composed by AI language models.
- You are encouraged to freely use GenAI tools in this class. In fact, some assignments may require it. When you use GenAI, no citation is required. However, keep in mind that GenAI is often limited in the scope and quality of its responses. You will likely need to enter multiple, refined prompts to ensure high quality content. In addition, you should always review and, where necessary, revise AI-generated responses for clarity, concision, accuracy, specificity, and appropriateness. Finally, keep in mind that GenAI tools are not bias-free. As with humans, GenAI can reproduce harmful prejudices and omit important perspectives. It is your responsibility to use GenAI to augment your own critical thinking processes, not to replace them.
AI Conditional
- In alignment with SU's Mission of "Our highest purpose is to empower our students with the knowledge, skills, and core values that contribute to active citizenship, gainful employment, and life-long learning in a democratic society and interdependent world.", the use of GenAI tools will be allowed in this course to help build professional skills - including responsible and ethical use of these tools. You may use generative AI to produce portions of your writing or coursework, but you may not generate large chunks of texts or produce responses entirely from an AI tool. All GenAI contributions must be appropriately attributed.
- Artificial Intelligence is not a new concept, but the explosion of Generative AI and large language models has grown exponentially over the past few years. In this course, we will create an AI policy together that includes considerations for future professional skillsets, responsible and ethical use, appropriate attribution (see SU Libraries AI LibGuide on how to cite in APA, MLA, and Chicago citation style). Together we will define acceptable and unacceptable use of GenAI tools in relation to our course work (e.g. what assignments it can and cannot be used for).
AI Restrictive
- In this course, every element of class assignments must be fully prepared by the student. The use of generative AI tools for any part of your work will be treated as academic misconduct.
- Use of ChatGPT (or other similar tools or software that generate suggested text) is not permitted in this class for any assignments. This course assumes that work submitted by students – all process work, drafts, brainstorming artifacts, final works – will be generated by the students themselves. Use of AI tools in this course is considered a violation of the SU Academic Misconduct policy. Violations could result in failure of an assignment or failure of the course.

Acknowledgements: Navigating the AI Revolution - Empowering Faculty and Enhancing Services through Teaching Centers (InstructureCon 2024 Presentation, Sonoma State College); ChatGPT and Generative AI Tools: Sample Syllabus Policy Statements (Center for Teaching and Learning, UT-Austin); AI Syllabus Statements (Broward College); Language for Course Policies on Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Center for Teaching and Learning, Washington University of St. Louis); SU AI Taskforce and members of the Exploring Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in the Classroom Faculty Learning Community.