Gen-AI: FAQs for students

Gen-AI refers to AI systems capable of creating content such as text, translated text, images, video or code. In your studies, how you are permitted to use Gen-AI will be determined by your lecturers and course coordinators. Its use may be fully excluded, restricted to certain specific uses or tools, completely unrestricted, or even required, depending on the assessment.

Please refer to your course outline/assessment brief for information about what is allowed. If this information is not provided, contact your course coordinator before assuming you can use AI.

Always check if you are allowed to use Gen-AI in your assessment. If you do use it, then you will be required to disclose this, with a description of how you used it.

You should critically evaluate any output generated by AI, as they can be inaccurate, biased, incomplete or incoherent. Generally speaking, your work should reflect your understanding and not rely solely on AI-generated content. 

The way you disclose use of Gen-AI will differ between courses. You may be asked to complete a cover page that indicates what tools you have used and/or how you have used them. Other courses may require you to include a section with your assessment that gives this information.

Please check with your course coordinator to confirm the approach they would like you to use.  See this link for examples of common approaches to writing acknowledgement statements.

Be aware of potential biases in AI-generated content, the accuracy of information, and plagiarism risks. Always cross-check facts and never submit AI-generated text without review, and ensure you are using AI tools in line with the guidance of your Course Coordinator, including acknowledging them appropriately.

Consider the status of information you are entering into an AI tool, particularly whether it is confidential, and whether you can ensure it will be protected. UC-approved AI tools have been vetted to ensure that data is secured. You should, however, avoid sharing personal, sensitive, or confidential information, and do not put learning materials such as lecture slides into an unapproved tool without the permission of your Course Coordinator.

Consider the status of information you are entering into an AI tool, particularly whether it is confidential, and whether you can ensure it will be protected. UC-approved AI tools have been vetted to ensure that data is secured. You should, however, avoid sharing personal, sensitive, or confidential information, and do not put learning materials such as lecture slides into an unapproved tool without the permission of your Course Coordinator.

Whenever you use AI for an assessment, you should consider these Responsible Use Guidelines, which include the ethics of the tool, data privacy, intellectual property, and reliability.

You must not put data into a Gen-AI tool without the permission of the person who owns the IP – this includes learning materials such as lecture slides.  If it’s your content or data, it’s up to you to decide whether this is a concern for you. 

Gen-AI can help by generating practice quizzes or flashcards, explaining complex topics more clearly, offering feedback on essays or your writing style, or even acting as a tutor for specific subjects.

Use it to support your learning but be wary of ‘outsourcing’ your learning by using it as a shortcut to an answer, or to summarise learning materials or readings. It’s important for you to engage deeply with problem questions and course materials in order to learn and retain course content, as well as to develop your ability to identify the key points of articles. Always remember that AI tools make mistakes, including fabricating or misinterpreting information, and that use of AI in assessments may not be permitted.

Visit the Gen-AI tools at UC page to confirm the tools available and approved by UC.

This is a breach of academic integrity, which UC’s regulations define as a “Principle by which University staff and students act honestly, fairly, ethically, responsibly and with due care in academic work.” Depending on the severity of the inappropriate use, it could lead to an academic misconduct investigation. Additional guidance about this is available from the proctors on UC's Academic Integrity webpage.

Please also read: UC Student Code of Conduct.

AI writing detectors, specifically Turnitin, are used in some courses at UC as an initial step to identify assignments that may need closer attention. They may be used as partial evidence of inappropriate use of AI in an academic misconduct proceeding, but would not generally be used as the sole piece of evidence for inappropriate use of AI.

If you use Grammarly for grammar and proofreading suggestions, your work is unlikely to be flagged by an AI detector. However, it may be flagged if you are using Grammarly extensively or using it to rewrite or compose text, which is generative AI. The same rules apply here as for other kinds of AI writing tools, including the requirement to use it in accordance with the guidance of your course coordinator and acknowledge its use.

If you’ve been accused of using AI inappropriately and you don’t believe you have, you should discuss this with the Lecturer/Course Coordinator, Academic Integrity Officer, or Proctor who has made the allegation. To prepare for a meeting, collect any evidence that supports your position including any earlier drafts, workings, and/or planning notes. You can also review the proctors’ advice on academic integrity, which includes associated procedures and regulations.

AI may be used to assist with marking in limited contexts, including assessments with objective short-answer questions. However, if an AI tool is used for marking, your lecturer must inform you and take steps to ensure that your privacy and intellectual property are preserved, and the quality of the marking is not diminished.

If you’re concerned that the use of AI for marking may have had a negative effect on your grade or the feedback you received, you can contact your lecturer and ask them to review the marking.

There are some tools available for this, but it’s important to use these tools in line with the Lecture Recording Policy, especially clause 7.4: “Students may only make personal recordings of a lecture with the explicit permission of the staff member and may only use such lecture recordings for the purposes of private study or research. A student may not share, publish or otherwise make a lecture recording available in whole or in part to any other person, website or social media platform.”

Graduate students need to ensure that their work is aligned with the Proofreading and Editing Guidelines; AI tools may be used to assist with the editing process but should only be used in a way that does not modify your own ideas or contribute to the intellectual content of the thesis. Note that many AI tools used for transcription do not keep your data secure – see the eResearch guidance on what tools are recommended for use by UC.

You must consult with your supervisory team before using AI tools. Where you do use these tools, they should be acknowledged, for example, through the use of Acknowledgement Statements. Make sure your use of AI doesn’t impact any ethical approval for your research.

A blanket policy banning or allowing Gen-AI in all cases would create more problems than it solved. It would be difficult to ban Gen-AI in all cases; the boundaries between Gen-AI, non-generative AI and traditional software are becoming increasingly blurred, so it is not as straightforward as simply banning a few tools. Furthermore, many employers are interested in graduates who know how to use Gen-AI tools responsibly and effectively.

However, allowing the use of Gen-AI in all cases could harm learning. If you don’t have a good understanding of your subject area without Gen-AI, you won’t be able to assess the outputs of Gen-AI effectively. Literacy and critical thinking skills will still be important despite the invention of Gen-AI, just as numeracy skills have remained important despite the invention of the calculator.