UMass Boston

Faculty determine their own policy for generative AI use in their course. Depending on their policy, instructors can include text similar to that below to clarify the use of AI in their course.

1. Prohibiting AI-based cheating: The use of AI or any other automated system for cheating purposes is strictly prohibited in this course. This includes the use of AI tools for generating papers, presentations, or any other assignments. Any such use will be considered a violation of the academic integrity policy and appropriate action will be taken.
2. Ethical use of AI: Students are expected to use AI tools and resources ethically and responsibly. This includes ensuring that any data used in AI systems is properly licensed, and that any AI-generated content is appropriately cited. Additionally, any AI-generated content that is shared with others should be clearly labeled as such to avoid misrepresentation. Any violations of ethical use policies will be taken seriously and appropriate action will be taken.

ChatGPT or other AI generative technologies can provide assistance to teachers in higher education in a number of ways. Here are a few examples:

1. Answering questions: It can provide quick and accurate answers to a wide variety of questions related to the subject matter being taught. This can help teachers save time and provide students with accurate information, including topic options for projects.
2. Offering feedback: Instructors can use it to evaluate student work and generate feedback on assignments, essays, and other projects. It can help identify areas of strength or make suggestions for improvement that you can personalize for your students prior to providing the feedback.
3. Providing resources: It can help teachers locate and share relevant resources, such as articles, videos, content topics, and online tools that can help enhance the learning experience for students.
4. Generating content: Instructors can use it to generate content, such as discussion prompts, quizzes, and assignments. This can help teachers save time and provide students with a wider range of engaging content that can be generated quickly and easily using effective prompts..
5. Identifying research topics: Instructors can prompt Chat GPT or another Generative AI tool to explore potential research topics for themselves or student deliverables. It’s important to further research all information collected by a generative AI tool to ensure accuracy of content and sources provided.

Students can benefit from ChatGPT or other AI Generative technologies by using the tool as a tutor or learning partner. Some ideas:

1. Answering questions: Students can ask any questions they may have related to their coursework or the subject matter being taught. It can pool multiple resources and provide efficient answers, helping students to better understand the material.
2. Generating content: Students can use it to generate content for deliverables by helping them develop their ideas, structure their arguments, and identify relevant sources. It’s important to further research any information collected by a generative AI tool to ensure accuracy of content and sources provided.
3. Providing feedback: Students can use it to receive feedback on their work. It can help identify areas of strength and areas for improvement, and provide suggestions for how they can improve their work.
4. Improving study skills: Students can use it to improve their study skills. For example, they can use it to generate study guides or flashcards, or to practice answering sample questions. This can help them better prepare for exams and retain information more effectively.

Authentic assessment can be a helpful tool in preventing students from cheating when using ChatGPT or other Generative AI tools. Authentic assessment refers to assessments that measure students' understanding of the material in a real-world context, rather than just memorization or regurgitation of facts. Here are a few ways that authentic assessment can help prevent cheating:

1. Assessing application, not just recall: Authentic assessments typically require students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations or scenarios. This type of assessment requires a deeper understanding of the material, rather than just memorization. Because of this, it can be more difficult for students to cheat by relying solely on ChatGPT or other AI language models to provide answers.
2. Focusing on process, not just product: Authentic assessment often involves a process of inquiry or investigation, rather than just a final product. This process can be more difficult to cheat on, as it requires students to engage with the material in a more meaningful way. Additionally, authentic assessment can be designed in a way that makes it difficult for students to simply copy and paste answers from ChatGPT.
3. Incorporating student choice and creativity: Authentic assessment often allows for more student choice and creativity, which can make it more difficult for students to cheat. By allowing students to choose their own topics or projects, for example, they are less likely to find pre-made answers on ChatGPT that they can simply copy and paste.

Overall, authentic assessment can be a valuable tool in preventing cheating when using ChatGPT or other AI language models. By designing assessments that require deeper understanding, focus on process, and incorporate student choice and creativity, instructors can help ensure that students are engaging with the material in a meaningful way and not just relying on AI for answers.

Generative AI language tools learn from the material they are exposed to from the users. We recommend that you use these tools to collect general information for your educational needs, but not provide the AI tool with materials unpublished or proprietary educational materials, as they could then be used to answer another person’s question. There are ways that both students and instructors can protect their data when using AI-powered platforms:

1. Read the privacy policy: Before using any AI-powered platform, students and instructors should read the platform's privacy policy to understand how their data will be collected, stored, and used. They should also look for platforms that are transparent about their data collection and use policies.
2. Be mindful of sharing data: Students and instructors should be cautious about sharing novel ideas, personal, or professional data on AI-powered platforms that aren't previously published or copyrighted. Use the Generative AI tool as a tool to collect information for you, not a tool that collects your information.

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence model that can generate text based on a user’s input. ChatGPT can interact in a conversational way, answer questions, write text, and learn from feedback.

There are other language models similar to Chat GPT, such as Bing Chat, Gemini (formerly Bard), and Claude.AI.

The university doesn’t have provide any Generative AI site-wide licenses. Chat GPT, Bing Chat, Bard and Claude.AI all currently offer free accounts. Those accounts are limited in availability based on traffic and capacity, with preference given to paid users.

To access ChatGPT go to open.ai.com. Click ‘Try ChatGPT’ to get an account. Once you have an account, select ‘Log in’. If you cannot log in to your free account it is most likely that the use is high at the moment and preference is given to paid account users (Chat GPT Plus). It has been said that more thorough responses are given to paid users using the same prompts as free users.

To access Bing Chat, you have to use Microsoft Edge Browser. Once downloaded and installed, Open Microsoft Edge Browser, click the search bar and select Get Started after the Bing introduction.

To access Gemini, in a browser, go to gemini.google.com and sign in to your personal Google account.Once you are signed in, you will see a text box at the bottom of the page where you can enter your prompt.

To access Claude by Anthropic, enter Claude.AI in your browser. You can create an account for free or pay monthly for more reliable access. Logging in after you have an account is simple. Enter your email address used for the account and you’ll be sent a code for verification. Then you can use the AI tool.

There are a number of free tools available, including  GPTZero, which are programmed to detect a number of different AI models. ​​However, these tools are not always accurate when it comes to distinguishing human-written from AI-generated content. If you're concerned about the authenticity of student content, always apply critical thinking, check the source, and if possible, verify information through multiple channels.

If the paper or work is about a commonly discussed topic, entering it in ChatGPT or another Generative AI product is okay. However, if the student work is part of a thesis or dissertation, we recommend not entering the work in its entirety. You can prompt using a paraphrase of the work, asking it what it thinks of a topic in general. However, we recommend caution to protect the student’s proprietary information.