GenAI Syllabus Statement Guidance

For this course, students are encouraged to explore the use of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini for their data analysis and writing assignments. However, it is crucial that any such use must be appropriately acknowledged and cited. Such acknowledgements can be done via in-text citations, quotations, or references in writing assignments, and comments in data analysis submissions or paper discussions. Violations of this policy will be considered as academic misconduct. It is your responsibility to assess the validity of any output generated by AI, and to carefully reflect on how the results can be applied to a given task. In most cases, the output from generative AI can serve as a starting point, but rarely accomplishes the tasks to the level expected in this course. Therefore, thorough modifications are highly recommended when making use of these tools. For the work that you submit, you bear the final responsibility.

Much of the work we do in this class involves various processes of pre-writing, brainstorming, collaborative talking through, and free writing. We are encouraged to make use of what comes before. We borrow, from ourselves and others. We give. Writing is a craft but it is also an art. Writing often proceeds by mimicry and learning by doing as others have done. It is messy, and the boundaries between ideas and words, between mine and yours and theirs, is often blurred, on purpose or on accident, and sometimes without our even realizing. And all of that is fine and good and how it is supposed to be. It is also important that when we are cognizant of how we are borrowing and who/what we are borrowing from — whether it is a line of words, a concept, or a claim — we acknowledge the borrowing, not because the laws of intellectual property say so but because writing is inherently collaborative, and the act of engaging in writing for others is an act of building community. This is why when you reference something someone else said — whether the someone else is a published scholar, an amateur podcaster, a classmate, or your instructor — you cite them: name them, acknowledge what you borrowed, welcome them in. Generative AI (such as ChatGPT) is not a source to borrow from. What it does is in the name: it generates content, and the content it generates is based on a flawed and problematic system. When you consent to produce your work by offloading the labor of writing to a generative AI, you outsource the most fundamental capacity of yourself as writer: your thinking. It is, therefore, the expectation of this instructor that you do not generate content for assigned work with prompt-based AI tools such as ChatGPT — except in those instances where it has been explicitly allowed and called for in the assignment. Use of generative AI may be taken as a violation of the college’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Technology changes quickly and academic institutions adapt slowly. It is our job to prepare you as well as possible for the future, and that means learning to use new technologies effectively but also responsibly. You are encouraged to try out LLM assistants for your coursework – GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Bing, Bard, Claude, GPT-Engineer, Llama, etc. I will do my best to provide guidance on how to use them both effectively and responsibly. In exchange for this open policy, I request your honest evaluations and feedback about how it’s going throughout the semester. For everything you turn in, you are required to include an “Collaboration and Generative AI disclosure” statement on what tools you used and a brief reflection on how they did or did not work with each assignment. There is no grade penalty for using assistive tools. We just want to know how you use them and how well they are working. This semester is going to be an experiment. This policy is subject to change, but always as a result of discussion between instructor and students, never as a surprise or a “gotcha.”

Disclaimer: I will be using ChatGPT (or equivalent) to help develop course materials. I use GitHub Copilot for my own research code. I always carefully examine the outputs. I always take full responsibility for the final result.

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence tools that accept user requests as prompts and generate content accordingly. Such tools include but are not limited to:

• Chatbots: OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot…
• Digital assistants: AI features in Microsoft Windows, Apple Intelligence…
• Large language model-powered code completion tools: GitHub Copilot, JetBrains AI Assistant…
• AI art generators: OpenAI DALL-E, OpenAI Sora, Stable Diffusion…

When it comes to using generative AI in this course, the rule of thumb is to treat it as if it were a human. In general, you may use generative AI to do anything you are allowed to do with another person, and things you are prohibited from doing with another person cannot be done with generative AI either.

Permitted Actions:

• Asking generative AI about a concept in this course per se.

Prohibited Actions:

• Attempting to prompt generative AI to get solutions or reusable code for an assignment or an exam question, including but not limited to adding any amount of assignment instructions and starter code to the prompt.
• Representing any amount of generative AI output as if it were your own work in an assignment or an exam. Neither the verbatim output nor any derivation of it is allowed.
• Having generative AI check any work you submit for grading.

Our Rationale:

• Although the output of generative AI is not created directly by a human, it is not your original work either, so you may not submit it for grading according to the course's Originality of Work requirement per se.
• Although pasting your work into generative AI might not immediately make it available to others, it may be used to train an updated version of the generative AI tool, and then the updated version might incorporate your work into its output to other users. Therefore, entering your work into generative AI could be effectively equivalent to posting it online.

If we suspect you have committed any prohibited actions listed above, we reserve the right to require you to explain and/or recreate your work in an in-person, one-on-one meeting to verify your ability to create the work independently. While using generative AI, please remember that it might output wrong information, so you should use caution and your own judgment when you process its output. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding use of generative AI in this course, please feel free to contact us.

As part of this System Administration class, you are allowed and encouraged to utilize Generative AI tools as a resource for completing assignments and gaining a deeper understanding of the course material. These tools can be invaluable in helping you comprehend complex concepts, solve problems, and develop your skills as a future system administrator.

However, it's essential to understand that these resources are not a replacement for your learning and comprehension. Real-world situations often require quick thinking, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work without external aids. Therefore, to accurately assess your understanding and readiness, all quizzes, exams, and the final practical for this course will be conducted without Internet access, meaning you cannot use Generative AI tools or any other online resources during these assessments.

The intention behind this approach is to encourage a balance between leveraging modern tools for learning while also ensuring that you are building a solid foundational understanding of the course material. My goal is to best prepare you for future professional scenarios where you might not always have immediate access to external resources.

As always, it's expected that the work you submit will be your own, even when using AI tools to assist with assignments. Please refer to the department’s academic dishonesty policy for more details on the appropriate use of external resources and the expectations for academic integrity.
 

Preface: The syllabus statement copied below is from a student-centered, project-based Generative AI course created by the Cybersecurity department. The course aims to introduce cybersecurity students to real-world uses of GenAI in the field through an emphasis on hands-on learning. Students are given the freedom to explore, apply, and critique the use of Generative AI in various cybersecurity tasks inspired by their experiences from prior class work and internships.

"Unlike any other course you may have had, the expectation in this class is that you use Gen AI tools as much as possible. “Cheating,” in this class, may constitute not using enough Gen AI in your work. Please be sure to include your own actual observations and reflections in your self-reflection submissions, though you are also encouraged to use Gen AI to enhance those as well."