By Amrit Brown
Professors this semester have been forced to re-evaluate their students’ use of artificial intelligence due to its increasing popularity.
AI uses range from spellcheck on Word documents and autocorrects on texts to programs that will write essays and take notes during class.
The policy on AI is especially important in the English Department, where students are writing or reading for almost every assignment. Chair of the English Department Amy Gottfried said that the department has varying policies on AI.
Some professors require that all AI be cited, while others have moved to only pen-and-paper assignments, written in class. Gottfried herself has some classes where students are not allowed to use technology. “It’s problematic if a person uses AI to complete an assignment, write an essay and does not acknowledge that they use that source,” Gottfried said.
Gottfried is, however, most concerned about plagiarism. “I want to emphasize that in all of our policies, the issue that comes up is when it is used to plagiarize,” she said.
The Hood College Student Handbook is very clear on AI. It states: “Plagiarism includes unauthorized utilization of a generative artificial intelligence platform (e.g. ChatGPT). Even if a faculty member expressly approves of the use of a generative AI platform for assignment(s), the student must still provide attribution.”
Gottfried also said that students are not doing themselves any favors if they plagiarize. “If you let it tell you what you think, if you let it tell you what you read, if you let it tell you how to say things, you’ve given up part of your humanity,” she said.
Gottfried added that students use AI when they are stressed or worried about an assignment. Professors, however, are willing to work with students. “We all are willing and eager to talk to students about their work,” she said.
The math department has a slightly different outlook on the use of AI. In some classes, AI is commonplace. “In our introductory statistics classes (MATH 112 and MATH 213), students sometimes use AI tools to answer critical-thinking and quantitative literacy homework questions,” Chair of the Math Department James Parson said.
These cases, however, are outliers. “The AI tools deprive students of the opportunity to learn the skills we teach with these questions,” Parson said. “These skills are among the most important in these courses and contribute to the college competencies at the heart of every Hood student’s education.”
Students emphasized their use of AI spell and grammar checks. “On Microsoft, I just use spellcheck,” Finn Scott-Daniels said. “I’m a science major so I don’t need Grammarly.”
Ty Broughton uses spell check as well but takes it a step further by using Word document tools to analyze his writing strength and grammar.
Some students, however, don’t use AI at all. Quade Gannon doesn’t use spell check or Grammarly. He also doesn’t support the use of Chat GPT. “I just don’t like it,” he said.
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