By Patricia Hill
It has been three years since the release of ChatGPT, the popular Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tool. Since then, universities across the country have adapted to the tool in different ways. However, there is still uncertainty among students as to how and when we are allowed to use it.
GenAI refers to online tools which “generate[s] new content and data such as text, images, audio, and video based on prompts”. The ANU does not strictly prohibit the use of GenAI, with students granted access to tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Adobe Firefly. Earlier this year, Primo Research Assistant was made available to students via the ANU Library. It summarises academic resources for students.
However, many students still opt for free online tools, with a 2024 survey from the ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) – released earlier this year – finding that 71% of students cite ChatGPT as their tool of choice.
GenAI is widely used, with just 25% of ANU students having “never used GenAI tools” before.
Three years after the release of ChatGPT, there remains some uncertainty around how students are allowed to use GenAI in their learning. Just 37% of students surveyed by ANUSA responded “agree” to the statement “I know what ANU expects of me when it comes to using GenAI in learning.”
So, what are we allowed to do?
Currently, it is up to course convenors to decide how GenAI may be used in assessments. If AI generated content is allowed, ANU policy states it must be cited. This applies to both staff and students.
Claiming GenAI as your own work, or using it when prohibited, is sanctionable under the ANU’s academic integrity rules.
However, ANU’s academic integrity rules have not been updated since 2021, prior to the release of ChatGPT and other GenAI tools.
The ANU “acknowledges that generative AI is here to stay and sees lots of possibilities for its use in education.”
“In 2023, ANU trialled Turnitin detection for AI misuse but elected not to continue using the software because of significant issues regarding its efficacy (including false positives), potential bias, and lack of transparency regarding its workings,” said a spokesperson for the ANU.
The assignments you submit are your own intellectual property. Therefore, “for privacy and data security reasons, staff are not permitted to upload student work to an AI platform without their consent,” the spokesperson said.
If you’ve noticed a change in your assessments over your degree, this may be due to the emergence of GenAI. Convenors are adapting their assessments “in the wake of AI,” a spokesperson for ANU told Observer. This has been done through:
Substituting essays “in favour of an oral presentation and a group-work presentation (including a self-reflection component)” and “changing from a 40 per cent written assessment to a video presentation, a real-world case study, and a group presentation.”
Convenors have also been incorporating “verifiable assessments such as nested assessments,” stated the ANU.
The ANU provides staff and students with guides and resources. However, ultimately how GenAI may be used in your assessments is up to your convenor.
Although scepticism has been felt by students towards convenors’ attitudes about GenAI.
“Most professors view the use of generative AI as a threat” said one respondent to the ANUSA survey.
“[There are] concerns around academic integrity and lack of literacy surrounding GenAI from both students and teachers… I see this especially in CASS from my professors who see it as a complete threat to the system and disregard it rather than an asset to be used wisely,” stated another.
ANUSA has made a series of recommendations, including greater institutional guidance, support, and “conversations between students and educators.”
Universities across Australia are beginning to adapt to GenAI, with the University of Sydney using a ‘two-lane approach’ to assessments, giving students greater clarity on when and how to use AI. The University of Melbourne has launched ‘SparkAI’ for staff, giving them access to university materials via GenAI without the privacy concerns of using a third party platform.
As reflected in the ANUSA report, “students are not expecting a free pass to use GenAI for their assessments, but they are asking for clarity, equity, and guidance.”
Students wanting to access the ANU’s principles on AI can do so here.
Graphics by Alex Matthews
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