AI guidance update for student assessments

New guidance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) programmes in student assessments is being developed, while a policy update has been made ahead of this year’s summer exam period.

Teaching colleagues should continue refer to the Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct Policy (Section 9 of the Assessment Handbook) if they believe work submitted by a student is not their own work. This is being updated to include reference to AI chat bots.

An Academic Integrity Review Working Group led by Professor Louise Hague, Teaching & Learning Dean, is currently producing new academic integrity guidance to be published in September 2023, which will cover the use of AI among other issues.

An outline of the approach being taken by the working group has been published on the Staff Portal and in the Exams Guidance pages on Essentials. It will include investigating the potential uses of AI at universities and how assessment methods could be updated.

The rise of AI

AI has received a great deal of public attention in recent months, following the public launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November. Other software companies have since followed suit by launching their own versions.

Chat bots are able to produce convincing, well-structured responses, using algorithms and online information, to prompts from users. Students having access to such tools has clear implications for education providers.

Rapid development in AI technology and how it is integrated into workplaces is expected over the coming years, meaning organisations will need to consider what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate use of AI as it becomes more widely used.

An update will be provided once the new guidance is published.