Physics Department Policy for use of AI Tools
Last updated May 8, 2025
PREAMBLE:
“AI” (Artificial Intelligence) writing assistants, such as ChatGPT, are being widely used by students in a variety of ways. The purpose of this policy document is to clarify expectations regarding the use of such software in the context of Physics coursework, as well as theses, dissertations, and scientific publications and professional presentations produced under
the supervision of Physics faculty.
This matter is complicated, both because the technology is rapidly changing, and because the boundary between what are now considered “traditional” writing aids, such as spell and grammar-checkers, and contemporary “AI” writing assistants, can sometimes be fuzzy, as existing software tools start incorporating AI features by default.
Why should there be a policy on the use of “AI” tools at all? Why should it matter if students take advantage of these tools? There are several reasons. The process of writing has educational value, as it forces students to think about their reasoning and precisely what they are trying to communicate. When students search for relevant resources, they are learning how to read and critically assess the scientific literature, and how to synthesize this material and draw conclusions. When students write, they are learning how to organize and articulate their ideas. So, in the context of coursework, theses, and dissertations, inappropriate use of writing assistants interferes with the educational goals of writing. The use of writing assistants can also lead to unintentional plagiarism, inappropriate citations, and other issues, and if any of these issues make it into publications and presentations, intentionally or otherwise, this has the potential to reflect poorly on our department as well as our students.
For students with a good command of American English and strong writing skills, tools that only check and offer suggestions regarding spelling and grammar are unlikely to cause harm, since such students are in a good position to quickly recognize when suggested edits are inappropriate. Tools that offer to rewrite sentences or paragraphs (for example, entering user-supplied text with instructions to “make it better”) involve greater risk of changing intended meaning or tone, but still require substantial effort by the student before the tool is applied. Tools that provide wholesale drafts of sentences or paragraphs from a prompt bypass critical aspects of the writing process on the part of the student, and also pose a risk in that AI-generated text tends to look authentic but often contains incorrect or misleading information.
POLICY:
Tools such as spelling and grammar checkers that are incorporated into MS Word, Overleaf, or a similar text editor or word processor may be used without specific disclosure, unless a course syllabus indicates otherwise. Students should be mindful that such tools may inadvertently change the meaning of their writing, so edits suggested by such tools should be considered thoughtfully, rather than accepted automatically.
The use of more sophisticated AI writing tools, especially those based on “prompts” are, by default, not permitted. The use of AI tools for any other purpose including but not limited to writing code, creating images, handling edits, is also, by default, not permitted. AI tools may only be used for a particular course if explicitly permitted by the course instructor. AI tools may only be used for research if explicit permission has been granted by the research advisor. Students must disclose and appropriately acknowledge the use of such tools in every instance, unless they are granted blanket permission in a specific context, for example, by a syllabus for a particular course. Journals and scientific societies may have specific policies that authors must also adhere to.
As a reminder, the language of the Student Conduct Code that deals with plagiarism prohibits “the copying of language, structure, images, ideas, or thoughts of another, and representing them as one’s own without proper acknowledgement…”, and “receiving unauthorized assistance on any form of academic work” is similarly prohibited. These ideas apply whether the words or ideas are supplied by a person, a book, or a machine.
Further details can be found here:
