On the Use of ChatGPT and AI Text Generators at Regent College

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On the Use of ChatGPT and AI Text Generators at Regent College

Revised October 30, 2023

This document sets out some guidelines concerning the use of AI Text Generators at Regent College. This is a rapidly changing area of technology, quickly becoming more and more commonplace, and so it requires wisdom and discernment. Therefore, this is not a policy document, although there are already policies that relate to using AI Text Generators in ways that result in plagiarism and cheating. Instead, it describes the posture we—as faculty, staff, and students—take towards ChatGPT and other technologies like it.

Policies

Students should always familiarize themselves with Regent’s standards regarding academic integrity. These include policies around plagiarism and cheating, set out in the Academic Catalogue. 

  • Regarding plagiarism, a student’s work must be their own. Submitting unoriginal work, whether it is another person’s or generated by AI, is plagiarism.
  • Regarding cheating, students must not use unauthorized technology and materials in exams. Unauthorized use of books, notes, the internet, and AI technology, is cheating.

Postures Towards ChatGPT

Of course, there are other, less clear-cut ways to use ChatGPT as a student. We advise students to approach ChatGPT with the two following postures in mind:

  • Don’t ask ChatGPT, or other AI text generators, to do something you wouldn’t ask a classmate to do.
    • For example, would you ask a classmate for a list of book recommendations? Sure, but you would want to verify the books had something to do with your research.
    • Would you ask a classmate to read an assigned book for you and provide a 250-word summary? No.
  • Treat ChatGPT-like technology the same way you would treat someone who knows a lot about a lot of things, who will make up information to cover up for what they don’t know, and who has so much confidence that it’s hard to tell the difference when they do know something or are making something up.

Ultimately, using ChatGPT as a shortcut undermines your own learning. Reading well, describing arguments, staking out your own position clearly, and structuring your ideas for someone else to read are some of the key skills you are at Regent to learn. This is not to reject the technology entirely. This is impossible, as it will become more integrated with writing software, proofreading, and internet searches. Rather, it is an encouragement to use it wisely, and not in a way that short- circuits your own learning.

Students are always invited to discuss further questions with their course instructors and Regent’s faculty.

Further Reading