Student and faculty guidance on how to navigate Artificial Intelligence usage at American University was announced in a campus-wide email Friday. The guidelines emphasize the presence of human oversight in all uses.
The guidelines establish rules regarding the use of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and Perplexity. This comes in light of AU’s increased adoption of AI in academic programs in the Kogod School of Business and other schools.
Teaching staff across the University are encouraged to clearly state their policies and expectations for how AI is used in their courses, and whether it is prohibited or permitted.
Academic departments may develop their own guidance, but must conform to the principles in the University’s new general guidelines.
Consequently, students are asked to adhere to the AI policy for each course. Usage of AI without permission may violate the Academic Integrity Code.
While the guidelines do not explicitly state what ideal AI use looks like in the classroom, students who do use AI tools are encouraged to do so responsibly, with awareness of the impacts of their decisions. They are also asked to consider the accuracy of any AI tool they use.
“Any mistakes in the response or output generated by AI become the students’ mistakes,” the statement reads. “Students should control for this by review and correction.”
Instructors are encouraged to be transparent about the use of AI in teaching their courses. While AI tools can be used to assist the grading process, it can not make final decisions when evaluating students’ work.
“Instructors should respect and preserve students’ intellectual property rights prior to uploading any student materials to an AI tool,” the statement read.
If students feel that their lack of access to or use of AI tools puts them at a disadvantage in a course, they are encouraged to “address their ability to meet course requirements directly with their instructor, department or the Office of the Dean of Students.”
Members of the AU community are also encouraged to develop foundational AI literacy skills, and to critically evaluate whether the use of AI is warranted or not. According to the guidelines, no decisions should be made without human oversight, especially those impacting individuals at AU. AI users are responsible for assuring the validity of their work, the guidelines said.
“Users are accountable for their use of content created by AI and the impact of that use on their work,” the directive reads.
This article was edited by Isabella Polak, Payton Anderson and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman.
