AI Use in Academic Work

The use of tools that help students learn to write better, such as the Writing Center, Online Writing Lab, and Grammarly corrections, are usually not a violation of the Academic Honor Code, since these are learning tools that provide suggestions regarding the student's own work.

The use of any generative AI, such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, and Grammarly’s generative AI option with rewrites, is usually a violation of the Academic Honor Code because the language model is completing some or all of the assignment instead of the student, preventing the student from fully meeting the learning objectives.

Detectors can identify assignments that misuse generative AI. However, it is important to recognize that even legitimate assistance from software like Grammarly might activate AI detection tools, potentially leading to mistaken identifications in this regard. Therefore, if faculty members suspect a violation, they should first discuss the matter with the student, inquiring about their writing process, sources, and so forth. This conversation will allow the student an opportunity to present drafts, resources, and document properties that could potentially dispel any concerns. 

If faculty still suspect a violation after meeting with the student, they should follow the procedures for reporting honor code violations via the Honor Code process.