AI Guidelines and SWOSU Policies

Introduction Statement

The ethical considerations and guidelines surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) for university faculty, staff, and students are continually evolving to reflect the rapid pace of technological advancement. This page serves as a comprehensive clearinghouse of resources designed to assist Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) employees and students in understanding and navigating the dynamic landscape of AI ethics and best practices.

In addition to curated external materials, this page features SWOSU-specific resources, including standardized guidelines and documents, such as the official syllabus statement on AI usage. By consolidating these tools and references, SWOSU aims to ensure that its community is well-informed, adheres to ethical standards, and effectively integrates AI into teaching, learning, and operational processes.

Guideline Links:

Syllabus Statement

Depending on the course and instructor, one of these three syllabus statements may apply. Students, please contact your instructor for details.

ZERO AI: (for instructors who wish to completely bar the use of AI in their courses)

Students are not permitted to use advanced automated tools including artificial intelligence on any assignments in this course. Critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills are part of the student learning outcomes of this course. Therefore, all assignments must be completed by the student and any AI-written work will be considered a violation of SWOSU’s Academic Integrity Policy and subject to its regulations. Instructor will provide clarity regarding common editing tools such as Grammarly but when unsure, students should reach out to Instructor for clarification.

AI Use Permitted on Specified Assignments Only (for instructors who wish to allow AI use for specific assignments)

Students in this course may use AI technologies on assignments where specified and/or with guidance from the Instructor. Students are permitted to use advanced automated tools, including automated generation tools for some assignments in this course. Artificial intelligence is often used in the workforce and therefore, in certain circumstances, may be used in this course on designated assignments only. Any other AI use outside of this is not allowed on assignments and any AI work submitted for grading will be considered a violation of SWOSU’s Academic Integrity Policy and subject to its regulations. It is the student’s responsibility to validate and confirm the accuracy of any information from automated generative tools. It is the student’s responsibility to properly document and credit the source of any artificial intelligence.

AI is Welcome Here, but with the following ethical and usage guidelines (for instructors who wish to treat AI as any other tool but might wish to include a statement reminding students of the academic integrity policy)

In this course, students can choose to use AI tools (such as ChatGPT or DALL-E) to help brainstorm assignments or projects, or to revise existing course work. However, in all academic work, the ideas and contributions of others must beappropriately acknowledged, and work that is presented as original must be, in fact, original. Using an AI-content generator to complete coursework without proper attribution or authorization is a form of academic dishonesty. If students choose to use content generating tools as part of their course work, they must acknowledge their use with a statement explaining how the tools were used as part of their assignment submission such as in the following: “In completing this homework, I used [insert AI program name] for the following components of my process: [brainstorming, editing, sentence generation, etc.].” Failure to acknowledge the use of AI generated content will be considered plagiarism, and result in the same consequences as other types of plagiarism. Students should also be aware of the potential benefits and limitations of using AI as a tool for learning and research. AI systems can provide helpful information or suggestions, but they are not always reliable or accurate. Students should critically evaluate the sources, methods, and outputs of AI systems to ensure the quality of generated content as it relates to course assignments. Students are fully responsible for the information submitted based on a generative AI query (such that it does not violate academic honesty standards, intellectual property laws, or standards of non-public research conducted through coursework).

AI Guidelines and SWOSU Policies