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AI POLICY

1. INTRODUCTION

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the key transformative technologies rapidly transgressing into all domains of work we are currently engaged in. Its impact on research institutions and educational institutions is extremely significant today and is likely to continue growing intensively over the coming years. AI is evolving rapidly year by year and many argue that AI help could be utilized by all students as technology today is assisting us to get a lot of structured information quickly and efficiently. The counter-arguments are as a concern that the use of generative AI may lead to a decline in students’ writing and critical thinking skills. 
For students and scholars, AI can be a powerful tool that enhances their learning experience or research endeavors – but, if used improperly, it can also degrade the quality of a student’s education and undermine the rigour and impact of scholarly research.  Much depends on the specific pedagogical or intellectual context within which AI tools are being used, and on the ways in which those tools either support or weaken the underlying goals of a given academic endeavour.  Since these contexts vary widely, it is the policy of UniAthena to follow the policy framework with an ethos of maintaining academic integrity and reliability at all times.

2. PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to encourage the informed and responsible use of AI to ensure that we maximize the benefits whilst minimizing any concerned risks. The use of AI is transforming the way individuals are working. Informed and responsible use of AI has the potential to increase efficiency in the workplace, improve decision making, foster innovation and so is encouraged by any educational institution. However, with these benefits come also potential risks, including data protection breaches, copyright issues, the protection of confidential information, ethical considerations and compliance with wider legal obligations. 
Transparent, ethical and responsible use of AI underpins the guidance that is essential for the safe and effective use of this modern technology. AI should not replace or override the decisions or insights of human experts, in short, humans still need to be the master and use the technology only for betterment of society. It should be seen as a supplementary tool, not a primary decision maker.

3. IMPORTANT GUIDELINES FOR USE OF AI

AI can produce an output that may be accurate or inaccurate, correct or incorrect, leading or misleading, biased or unbiased, appropriate or inappropriate, offensive or defensive, etc. One thus needs to be careful while quoting AI tools content; especially one needs to be very vigilant that the content does not violate any copyright or other legal statutory requirements. It implies that critical thought thus must be applied to all inputs/ outputs. The following guidelines need to be observed while dealing with AI content.

  • All work created using AI must be reviewed diligently by the student for accuracy and it should be consistent with the guidelines given in this policy.
  • The use of AI should be transparent. Information about the use of AI should be disclosed by students. Such disclosure would include the nature of the AI tools being used, the purpose for which it is being used, and any potential impact it may have on data and privacy issues.
  • Students must not generate content to impersonate, bully or harass any another person, or to generate explicit or offensive content.
  • The use of AI should respect the privacy and confidentiality of users; it should be reliable and accurate, and should not be used to collect, store, or access any personal data without consent.
  • Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new data or content rather than analyzing and interpreting existing data. Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) are a type of generative AI model that use deep learning techniques to generate natural language text. Both models can be utilized by students within the policy guidelines provided herein. 

4. AI POLICY FOR UniAthena 

Policy Principles

Artificial Intelligence is a valuable, dynamic, and vital tool. As with all other tools, UniAthena must abide by all applicable regulatory laws and policies when one uses AI and should strive to use AI ethically. The Institute should follow guidelines (including prohibitions) provided in this policy as a basic framework to maintain academic integrity. When AI is used, it should always be used in ways that are consistent and aligned with the existing UniAthena Academic Policies & Procedures on plagiarism and academic integrity. This applies to all aspects of research, service work, and creative expressions. 

The following principles need to be followed by UniAthena:

  • Faculty should guide students on how generative AI may be utilized while writing assignments.
  • Faculty should clearly communicate expectations to students.
  • Faculty should clearly communicate what constitutes academic dishonesty.
  • Students are responsible for understanding the rules of engagement for using AI in each of their courses and seeking out information if they do not understand or are unsure how to comply.
  • Faculty and students should disclose the use of AI in their work if such tools have been used in their work.
  • Faculty and students are the authors of content generated by AI and are responsible for that content for its accuracy and reliability.
  • AI should be used in ways that respect confidentiality and privacy.
  • AI should be used legally, ethically, and reasonably.

Permissive Policies

Generative AI. You can use generative AI models (ChatGPT, GPT, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot, etc.) as needed, for any purpose, at no penalty as long as you recognize the model’s contribution. Failure to acknowledge the use of AI models will be penalized as plagiarism. All assignments will be reviewed for plagiarism using Turnitin software. The software now includes the ability to detect text that was generated using AI. It should also be noted that AI models tend to include incorrect information, fake citations, and inaccurate outputs. It is strongly recommended that the students avoid pasting AI output into their respective assignments. All information must be backed up with citations to studies, literature reviews, and other scholarly works. The student may carefully scrutinize such content and is responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content submitted regardless of whether it originally comes from the student or an AI model.

AI tools may be employed in the brainstorming, research and class assignments, but the final, submitted assignment must be primarily written by the student.  Text predominantly generated by an AI must be cited as such, as you would a human author. By providing students and faculties with training in AI, educational institutions can help to ensure that graduates are equipped to contribute to the development of AI and to navigate the ethical, social, and economic issues that are likely to arise as AI becomes more widespread. Such training should also help students become competent and responsible users of AI in their daily lives.

Acceptable Use of AI

The use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Dall-e, etc.) is permitted in the programme for the following activities:

  • Brainstorming and refining your ideas;
  • Fine tuning your research questions;
  • Finding information on your topic;
  • Drafting an outline to organize your thoughts; and
  • Checking grammar and style.

Unacceptable Use of AI

The use of generative AI tools will not be permitted in any course for the following activities:

  • Referring to AI tools without acknowledging or referring to their usage in an assignment or research work.
  • Giving incorrect or factually inaccurate information without verifying from other credible sources.
  • Copying-pasting a major content, for e.g. paragraph(s) from AI sources, without evidence.
  • Writing entire sentences, paragraphs or papers to complete class assignments.

5. GENERATIVE AI AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY 

For Students

The following guidance is shared to help support students in navigating the appropriate use of AI in their classes.

  • Students may utilize the current AI tools, but they need to follow the same principles of referring from books, articles, journals, web sites, etc. for all AI related material they refer to in their assignments.
  • The main objective should be to critically think and analyse, evaluate such content which will help them to substantiate their perspective of what they desire to convey.
  • Students are also encouraged to speak with their instructors regarding their expectations.

For Faculties

The following guidance is shared to help support faculty in navigating the appropriate use of AI in the classroom.

  • The faculty should share clear expectations at the beginning of each course through the syllabus, policy guidelines and class discussions on the appropriate use of AI tools.
  • Faculty can encourage students to reach out when they need support rather than risking a potential academic integrity violation. Students should be counselled to acknowledge and cite any use of AI applications, if they utilize them.
  • Discuss about the use of AI tools and what faculty considers to be appropriate and inappropriate while its usage in class or assignments.
  • The plagiarism detection tools, including AI detection should be informed to all students so that there is awareness to maintain academic honesty.

6. GENERATIVE AI AND RESEARCH

The policies above apply to all WEG Institutions conducting research work. The following considerations and policies also extend to all research activity using AI:

  • As with other tools and research methods, students who use Generative AI in research must be transparent regarding its use, in describing methods, acknowledgements, or elsewhere, as appropriate.
  • Researchers are responsible for the accuracy of any content created by AI that is included in any research output and must use caution in utilizing AI output in research.
  • Researchers are expected to follow the policies of journals and professional bodies through which they report their research. For example, some journals may explicitly prohibit text, figures, images or graphics generated by ChatGPT or any other AI tools.
  • Researchers must avoid uploading or using as input, any unpublished research data or other Confidential Information into a Generative AI tool.
  • Researchers must avoid uploading, or using as input, other parties’ Confidential Information, as their use could create the potential to breach confidential contractual commitments.

7. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is reiterated that AI technology and its usage can benefit students and researchers if it is used to help out a student with data, facts and figures, while he/ she is doing any academic work in their academic journey. The important thing is to acknowledge its usage with correct referencing. The flip side of AI is a tendency to utilize the sources as a copy-paste short-cut process, which can degrade the assignment objectives as well as dampen students critical thinking and evaluation skills. The faculties have a very important part to play by teaching, counselling and guiding students on AI tools correct usage, thereby ensuring that the academic transparency and integrity is always maintained.